Everton's Flaws Exposed in Goalless Draw at Bolton
Everton’s pre-season jog into Lancashire delivered a sharp reminder of the work still facing David Moyes. A 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers read tame on the scoreboard, but the performance laid bare a blunt attack, a disjointed midfield and a squad still crying out for reinforcements.
This was a useful workout. It was also a warning.
Branthwaite Back, But Squad Still Thin
The headline positive came before a ball was kicked. Jarrad Branthwaite, wearing the No 4 shirt, made his long-awaited return to the starting XI, a significant boost after his fitness issues. He partnered James Tarkowski at the heart of defence and, for all Everton’s attacking problems, the back line rarely looked stretched.
Around him, though, the limitations were obvious. Hayden Hackney, the only new signing so far, was again absent. Tyler Dibling, another of the younger hopes, missed out with a minor knock. Both are expected to be involved against Stoke City on Tuesday, but that does not disguise how thin this squad currently looks.
James Garner is sidelined after groin surgery and now begins his recovery, while Vitalii Mykolenko rejoined the group after time away for the birth of his second child and came on at half-time. Those are the moving parts Moyes is juggling as recruitment stalls.
Slow Start, Flickers of Quality
Bolton started sharper. They pinned Everton back early, forcing the visitors to defend deep as the game settled into the hosts’ half. A long ball from O’Brien briefly broke that pattern, Barry chasing as the Bolton goalkeeper rushed out and misjudged a header, clattering into the forward. The whistle went against Barry, to Everton’s frustration.
Moments later, Merlin Röhl surged down the flank and seemed to have earned a corner when his cross took a touch off a Bolton defender. The officials saw it differently. Bolton stayed on the front foot and Rodriguez cut in from the corner of the area, testing Mark Travers with a low effort that drifted just wide.
Everton’s response came through the left. Aznou slid a clever pass into Barry’s feet, only for the striker to hesitate instead of hitting it first time, allowing a defender to smother the chance. Barry then did better out wide, his cross deflected behind for a corner. A short routine followed, another cross, another corner – and another tame delivery easily cleared.
In midfield, Tim Iroegbunam quietly impressed as the stopper, snapping into challenges and screening the defence. He needed to. The referee let plenty go Bolton’s way, and the home side threatened again with a header that dropped just wide, Travers scrambling across his line.
The clearest opening of the half fell to Lewis Dobbin’s replacement in this squad, Dwight McNeil’s target man Barry. McNeil, fed by a crisp Tarkowski pass, whipped in a superb cross and Barry met it perfectly, only to see his header flash inches past the far post. It was the sort of chance Everton have to take when the real stuff starts.
The ball was in the net soon after. Röhl drilled a brilliant low cross into the six-yard box and Barry finished sharply from close range, but the flag went up for a marginal offside. A tight call, and a rare moment of incision.
At the other end, Aznou was caught out by a ball in behind, but recovered well to put off the Bolton striker’s shot. He and Barry then combined promisingly down the flank, only for the final cross to let them down again.
Barry’s frustrations continued. Set free by a neat pass from Armstrong, he found himself teed up for a clean strike on goal. Instead of driving through the ball, he scuffed a weak effort straight back to the goalkeeper. It summed up a half in which Everton improved slightly as the break approached but never truly convinced. The lack of a ruthless edge in the final third was glaring.
Second Half: Missteps and Missed Chances
If the first half was frustrating, the second began with something close to farce. Barry found himself high up the pitch, only one defender between him and goal. The situation screamed for a shot. Without looking, he rolled the ball left – to nobody. It trickled straight out of play, as if passed to the ghost of Alan Ball. The away end could scarcely believe it.
Travers had made way for King at the interval, and the substitute goalkeeper was soon called into action, reacting sharply to tip over a strong Bolton header. Michael Keane, on for Branthwaite, battled gamely with the striker, doing just enough to limit the danger.
Barry’s afternoon ended in keeping with his performance. Easily dispossessed in midfield, he surrendered possession yet again, and Moyes had seen enough. Beto came on to lead the line.
There were flashes of life. McNeil worked the ball neatly into Röhl, who stepped inside and fired across the goalkeeper, only to see his shot parried away. On the left, George and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall combined well, but the cross that followed skidded through the box untouched.
Bolton freshened things up around the hour mark, a cluster of changes breaking the rhythm. Everton looked to exploit the space with a ball over the top for Beto. It bounced kindly, but the striker never settled his feet and lashed wildly high and wide. Another chance wasted, another groan from the travelling support.
Bolton forced a corner with a drive that King could only parry behind. Dewsbury-Hall then burst forward, only to be hauled back by his shirt. A yellow card, and a rare moment of bite in a game short on edge.
McNeil tried to take responsibility. He stepped inside, lined one up from distance, and dragged it as badly as anyone else had all afternoon. Bolton, buoyed by Everton’s wastefulness, pushed on again and earned another corner off Keane.
George attempted to switch play with an ambitious cross-field ball to McNeil. It flew over his head and out of play. Bolton answered with another round of substitutions, the stop-start nature of the half making it harder for Everton to build any sustained pressure.
There was still time for one of the most exasperating moments of the day. George threaded a gorgeous pass into Beto, splitting the defence and putting him in a prime position. The forward stumbled, bumbled and lost the ball, a move that encapsulated the disconnect between Everton’s approach play and their finishing.
Set pieces offered no escape. A George free-kick was headed back across goal by Tarkowski, but Keane’s attempt to guide it towards the net went horribly wrong, his header nowhere near the target. Three more Everton substitutions followed with 10 minutes left, further shuffling a pack that never quite looked in order.
Bolton produced one last slick move, Mykolenko stretching to cut it out at the cost of a corner, which Everton cleared. From distance, Malik Olayiwola finally had a sight of goal and struck cleanly, but his effort flew too close to the keeper. At the other end, a direct ball through the middle for Bolton was smashed into the side netting.
And then it was over. No goals, few clear answers.
A Squad Crying Out for Help
On paper, a 0-0 away draw in pre-season can be filed under “fitness exercise”. In reality, this felt like something more instructive. Everton looked organised enough at the back, with Branthwaite’s return and Iroegbunam’s discipline in front of the defence providing a solid spine. King and Keane coped reasonably after the interval, and Mykolenko’s late intervention underlined his value.
But the rest? The lack of cutting edge was impossible to ignore. Barry’s indecision, Beto’s wayward finishing, the wastefulness from promising positions – it all fed into a familiar narrative. The build-up play occasionally sparkled, yet when the time came to finish, Everton had nothing.
Moyes knows it. The recruitment team knows it. The supporters certainly know it.
This was a “good workout” in the physical sense. It also felt like a stark demonstration that Everton either need rapid improvement from within, or several new faces from outside, before this season becomes another exercise in survival.
