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Chris Beesley looks at some of the moments missed from Everton’s 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa

Everton endured a painful afternoon at Aston Villa as they suffered a 4-0 thrashing in their first away game of the season but here are some moments you might have missed from their trip to the West Midlands.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin gets socked

Nobody felt the pain at Villa Park more than Everton No.9 Dominic Calvert-Lewin – literally – after colliding at full pelt with the hosts’ 15-stone goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Although the striker bravely carried on, by the latter stages of the first half the swelling by his cheekbone was such, it was impairing his vision and he had to go off. Although everyone connected with the Blues will be frustrated that the 26-year-old, who has played fewer than half the team’s matches over both of the previous two seasons, last just 36 minutes into his latest comeback in what was his first game since Sean Dyche’s side were last in the region against Wolverhampton Wanderers on May 20, this latest setback displayed how the centre-forward is prepared to put his body on the line for Everton.

Flinging himself at the cross showed just how committed Calvert-Lewin is to the cause so no wonder his father was left hurt by those who seemingly doubt him. For his part, the player, who said: “It’s a sore one but I’ll be back shortly,” wanted everything to be just right after his fitness “factory reset” this summer and part of that had been cutting holes in his socks by the calves, a practice widely regarded as being an aid to reducing pressure on the muscles and helping with circulation in the tight-fitting garments.

McGinn’s man bag

Back in the 1960s, terrace wits on Anfield’s Kop handed Everton goalkeeper Gordon West a handbag because he used to blow kisses at them on Merseyside Derby days but Aston Villa captain John McGinn helped himself to a bag here.

The unusual on-field accessory belonged to a physio but while staff members were helping an injured team-mate on the opposite side of the pitch, McGinn – with a spring in his step after opening the scoring in the rout – enthusiastically picked up the large item and scampered over to the far touchline to remove it from the field of play. It was an interesting look but then the Scot has always been something of an advocate of cutting edge fashion as a previous ding-dong with now Everton manager Sean Dyche once demonstrated.

Back in Burnley’s 3-2 win over Villa in 2021, McGinn told Dyche to shut up, sparking the Clarets boss to allegedly say: “So you’ve been in the Premier League for one season and you think you’re proper big time, telling me to ‘shut up’?” with the midfielder’s riposte being: “You’ve been in the Premier League for six seasons and you’re still wearing the same s*** coat, you big p****!”

When asked about the flashpoint, Dyche later said: “There was nothing untoward, it was all friendly fire.” However, with the latest meeting between the pair coming on a sunny summer’s day, the Blues boss was wearing a shirt and tie with no coat.

No holiday at the Villa for Young

At 38 years of age, Ashley Young became Everton’s oldest-ever outfield debutant against Fulham the previous weekend and ahead of his Blues bow, ECHO columnist Michael Ball, who the new recruit was long enough in the tooth to have played against – as well as being a team-mate of Dyche – declared that the veteran should have been applauded for being eager to come through the door having arrived relatively early in the summer, rather than mulling things over on the beach for another couple of weeks.

Having served Aston Villa with distinction over two spells totalling seven-and-a-half seasons, Young – whose children, along with those of other players (Idrissa Gueye gave a cheery greeting to Lucas Digne’s kids) were present as pre-match mascots – was rightly given a generous round of applause before kick-off from the home faithful. But while the Everton new boy was determined to impress against his former side – there were plenty of snappy tackles from him early on – this ended up being a nightmare return.

Villa’s first goal came from a dashing run by Leon Bailey down Young’s flank and while despite his great fitness, you cannot demand players of his age to cover the most ground by slogging their guts out for 90 minutes, one thing you expect is plenty of footballing nous. The throw-in that put the Blues into trouble for the hosts’ fourth goal felt more like a rookie mistake.

Talking of rookies, a penny for Youssef Chermiti’s thoughts as Everton’s only cash signing of the summer so far trundled down the touchline following the full-time whistle.

 

Against Fulham – when he was greeted with a hug from director of football Kevin Thelwell in the directors’ box – Chermiti might have watched on thinking that in time his presence in such matches could make a positive difference but you wonder what the teenager might have been pondering after witnessing this shambles. The Blues – who sell out wherever they go with their long-suffering fans backing them through thin and thinner on the road – have one of the most-loyal supporter bases in football but many of their number had already departed from the scene of the carnage long before Anthony Taylor called time to put their team out of their misery.

Despite Chermiti’s £15m price tag Dyche has already said: “He’s young. We’re not putting any kind of pressure on him at all at this stage,” but for all the youthful promise, Everton need bodies who can get them out of the fix they’re in right now.

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