True that’s a good shout but there may have been underlying reasons why he didn’t play him. I understand we had to buy him if he played a certain amount of games. If the club felt early on he wasn’t going to be a good fit then perhaps it was important to leave him out.

Maybe we should have Done a deal with Trabzonspor and Benteke. He could have gone on loan and maybe do what Sorloth has. Then we should have got say £5 m for him. The way it is now we will be lucky to get 2/6d.

So why haven’t Eze or Batshuayi started then. We all know what the line up will be tomorrow. Same old faces with both of them warming the bench.

I would have thought Eze has something to do with him having had a groin injury and being off the pace of the rest of the players and Bats I’m not sure. We are two games in to the season after what was a very short summer of preparation. I think perhaps you haven’t given the group enough time to settle into the strongest 1st 11.

Will just add as well...we have just won both games with those same old faces. Do you just want new players on the pitch for the sake of it? I think unless the new players are world beaters then it has always been the case that new players have to win a place in the team. Probably why the team respect Roy so much and why the moral is always so good.

Edited by Hudsoneagle (25 Sep 2020 11.14am)

As much as I'd like to see both Eze and Batshuayi given more pitch time, I don't want that to happen simply for the sake of it.

Roy made it clear that the arrival of these two players has created competition for places up front and that has pushed the current incumbents to up their levels.

As McCarthy says in the Everton programme, the difference this year is all about the formation in that 4-4-2 enables there to be an extra player up front and this has given us more bite in attack. The old faces have done the business so far and with Wilf in a more central position and Schlupp pushing forward more we look a different team.

Getting back on thread, with dealings between PL and EFL clubs open till 16th October, still plenty of time for things to happen re Benrahma

Perhaps, but I imagine he wants PL football for more than one season and Fulham currently look like candidates for a quick return to the Championship (again).