How have the Toffees done so far?

So, the transfer window is now shut. We've hit the international break and had three Premier League matches as well as a Carbaou Cup match. It's a good point to discuss how things have gone for Everton now.

I'll start by saying I'm pretty happy. Sure, we lost our first game against Leeds, one of the newly promoted teams while playing some dire football. We were really unlucky to concede the penalty in the way we did, but much of the result of that match is on the team's performance. It was not good. Thankfully, that has not remained. Since then we have three wins in a row, beating Brighton in our first home game at the new stadium, beating Mansfield in the Carabou Cup and then getting the win against Wolves last Saturday. At the moment, we currently sit 5th in the table. Safe to say, it's been a positive start to the season.

Let's go over some of the transfers we've had come in. Initially I figured that Thierno Barry would be our most significant incoming. A new striker, someone to take over for DCL and offer some competition for Beto, what we as fans have been crying out for for years. This is a player who scored 11 goals last season for Villareal. One of our biggest issues in the past seasons is scoring goals so this is a signing I was very happy and excited for. He hasn't shown much yet to suggest he is a clear starting striker yet, but I'm confident he'll adjust to the Premier League.

However, he is so far not the signing that has made the biggest impact. First, let's discuss Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Signed from Chelsea for a reported €28.65m I was very excited for this transfer. He'd essentially been the best player in the Leicester side in the Championship that got promoted and no doubt they would've done better last season had he stayed on. While he didn't get much time playing for Chelsea, it was a stacked side and he did show his abilities in the Conference League. A lot of Chelsea fans said he was a great player, but they were glad he got to go to a place where he'll get plenty of time playing as it's something he deserves. I saw him in his first start at the new Stadium in the friendly against Roma and he was one of the highlights. So many of the attacks were started with him pressing the ball and winning possession. So far he has one assist and a goal that is currently up for goal of the month.

He's not even the most significant signing however. Much of the noise at the moment tends to be around Jack Grealish. Grealish is a talent, there's no doubt about that. There's a reason that Manchester City signed him for £100m. He was instrumental in their treble winning season, but since then he's not really been able to shine. The discussion has centered around one point. Grealish wasn't given much freedom on the pitch. Pep Guardiola had his system and while Grealish could occasionally fit into that system, he wasn't able to be at his best. But now he's at Everton. Of the five goals we've scored in Premier League games so far this season, he got the assist for four of them, and a key pass for the fifth. Everyone is raving about how he's back to showing his best, how he's able to get himself in the running for the England squad. He himself has said that he's enjoying football again. The £50m option to buy him seemed crazy hefty at the start, now a lot of us fans are hoping we'll be able to cobble the cash up for it.

The most expensive signing of the window is Tyler Dibling, who has come in for €40.50m, our second largest transfer spend ever. This is a player full of potential, who looked amazing in a poor Southampton squad last season, and in a position we desperatley needed to sign in. We haven't been able to see much of him yet, but he's a transfer I'm really optimistic about. Travers and King are alright signings. Losing Begovic and Virginia meant we needed some backup keepers. They'll do the job. Getting Alcaraz on a permanent is good. He was pretty decent on the tail end of last season. I'm glad we have him back. Adam Aznou is not someone I've heard much about, but he's shown some great attacking capabilities so far. He's been injured for a bit but should be coming back soon and offer some competition for Mykolenko, who himself is now injured. Merlin Röhl is another player I'm not familiar with. It seems at Freiburg he played primarily as a CAM, but he can apparently cover the CDM role reasonably well, a position we desperatley needed cover for.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the signings we've made this transfer window. It's just a shame we didn't sign a Right Back.

As for the matches, well other than the Leeds game at the start of the season it's been pretty positive. The football against Leeds was dire. Yes it was always going to be a tough game, but with the way we played we didn't deserve to come away with anything, although I would level the same statement at Leeds. They got a penalty, they scored it, we go home with zero points. It's a shame. Thankfully, things improved after that.

The 2-0 win at home against Brighton, the first at the new Hill Dickinson stadium is exactly what we needed. Getting that good win, showing some nice football was great. Then to go on and get a 2-0 win over Mansfield was also decent. It shouldn't have been too much of a difficulty, but the boys managed to do it. The Wolves game should've been an emphatic win. THe two goals we conceded were really the result of very poor defending in those moments. It was very much scary going into those final 10 minutes after they scored the second goal. To have drawn that game would have been a real dissapointment. FOrtunately the team held on and got the win.

Now at the international break, I can feel happy about Everton. I can feel excited and optimistic. I'm not stressed about relegation and I really believe we can get a nice, simple, mid-table finish. It's about time we had that.