'The way Baines sees the game is different' published at 19:28 29 April
19:28 29 April
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Former Everton player Steven Naismith praised the influence of Leighton Baines on the football club.
Baines immediately began working with the club's Academy as a professional development coach after retiring. He later became the Under-18s head coach in October 2021 and temporarily served as interim manager earlier this year alongside Seamus Coleman.
Naismith said: "Bainesy is somebody who wants to make sure he's making the right choice, and then when he's done it, you do see his knowledge and his understanding.
"I think the way he sees the game is different, and the way he teaches it. Even when I was playing with him, the way he would describe different situations, he delivered it in a different, really clear way.
"I know, 100 per cent, he will have helped the academy players that he was dealing with, and now that he's stepped up, it will be the same for the senior players as well, because he's very good."
Eyes firmly fixed on 'emotional' farewellpublished at 12:31 29 April
12:31 29 April
Mike Richards Fan writer
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With the season dwindling to an end, all Evertonian eyes are now clearly fixated on what promises to be an emotional final two games at Goodison Park.
This coming Saturday is the final traditional 3pm kick off, as already relegated Ipswich roll into town.
With grand pre-match plans already in place by fan group The 1878s, Goodison promises to look her absolute best, with celebration, tradition and blue very much the order of the day.
It's a spectacle that will not only be appreciated by all those in attendance and watching round the world, but hopefully replicated and enhanced when we move to Bramley-Moore Dock.
Moving grounds can quite often be far from plain sailing, so we certainly have a responsibility to make the transition as smooth as possible for both the players and manager.
Clearly aware of the importance of this, the manager has spoken of his disappointment at being unable to hold training sessions in our new home - with the original pitch being stripped before the final test event.
After two successive defeats, David Moyes will be eager to get back to winning ways.
With millions at stake for each place in the Premier League - and a squad rebuild penned in for this summer – finishing as high as possible could be the difference between signing a player and not.
Saturday appears to be an ideal fixture - on paper - to help Everton keep moving in the right direction.
Baz: That was a more determined performance from the Blues. To hold on to a 1-0 lead for that long, and then fight through a determined last 20 minutes from Everton, was surprising. It has left me delighted. We look so much better when we thrust at opponents, rather than this slow build-up and possession style that is one poor pass and counter-attack away from catastrophe. The Premier League has few easy games but a win was a must. We need to show the same doggedness against better opposition and further raise our game. The Champions League remains a possibility.
Gary: Poor performance from Chelsea. They got a win but their ability in front of goal is appalling! We need a striker who can control the ball and bring other players into the game. Nicolas Jackson is not that player.
Paul: Like petulant children, Madueke and Jackson were an embarrassment to Chelsea football club in the second half. Sad days indeed.
Jak: Papering over the cracks - we just about saw off a strangely passive Everton team. Enzo Maresca is a fraud who is way out of his depth and is squandering the talent at his disposal. In a poor Premier League season, we should have coasted to at least fourth place, but we will ultimately miss out on Champions League qualification due to his ineptitude.
Everton fans
Dave: Unfortunately we are too slow in midfield to compete with the top teams. We employ wide men yet we continue to pass through the midfield and get pickpocketed every time. A major clearout is needed to begin the 2025-26 season at our new ground.
Chris: Sadly yet another mistake cost us the game. A draw would have been a fairer result, although that would have been our 15th of the season. They won the first half but we won the second half, even though we failed to score. Moyes has done well but we need to convert draws to wins and 1-0 losses to draws. We lack quality, and fighting spirit is not always enough. Let's go for maximum points from our last games.
Peter: Everton are on the beach, just as Moyes feared. The creativity, work rate, control and finishing have all gone on holiday. It was like an old Sean Dyche set-up.
Greg: Moyes persists with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison but neither give us anything. Carlos Alcaraz has to start and Dwight McNeil. Surely Moyes knows what he needs and, with the exception of Idrissa Gueye and Alcaraz, the rest of the out-of-contract or loan players can go.
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 12:29 27 April
12:29 27 April
Mark Chapman presents highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures, which saw Ipswich Town's relegation from the top-flight confirmed.
'I'm happy to be back and just waiting to get my chance again'published at 20:55 26 April
20:55 26 April
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Everton winger Dwight McNeil has been speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside following the defeat at Stamford Bridge: "I felt like we were miles better in the second half. The first half was difficult, but it was always going to be difficult coming here.
"It was just a mistake that led to the goal and that's what happens at this level. If you make a mistake, you get punished - especially against a top side.
"That's what let us down today and not being productive enough in the final third. I think we have to create more clear cut chances because that's what we are lacking at the minute."
On coming back after a long period out: "It was frustrating, four months out. I was playing through pain before but then I had the surgery and I just wanted to get back because I felt like I was playing well.
"I'm happy to be back with the lads and I'm just trying to get my fitness up every day in training. I'm trying to play for my place in the team.
"David Moyes coming in whilst I was injured has been a different experience for me, but I've been trying to learn what the manager wants. It's a different type of football that we are playing.
"I'm happy to be back and just waiting to get my chance again."
On wanting to be in David Moyes' future plans: "Definitely, he talks to me about it a lot. He only wants the club to go one way, which we all do, and that is up. But there is still a lot of work that we all need to do to get to that point."
'We were just lacking quality'published at 16:15 26 April
16:15 26 April
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Everton boss David Moyes has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day about the defeat: "We were perhaps fortunate to only be 1-0 down at half-time, but we stuck at it and grew into the game and played very well in the second half.
"We were just lacking quality to get a finish on the end of some of our play. The substitutes made a big difference. It looked like we had more energy and were more creative."
On Beto being dispossessed for the goal: "You see it in football all the time. We played the ball into the centre-forward's feet, he doesn't retain possession and the opposition go on and score.
"We don't accept it, but the modern game sees lots of players do it. We are trying to play better and these are the things we need to be better at."
Chelsea 1-0 Everton: Key statspublished at 14:53 26 April
14:53 26 April
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Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last 30 Premier League games against Everton since a 1-0 loss in November 1994 (W17 D13). Only against Leeds United (36 games between 1953 and 2001) have Everton had a longer winless away run in their league history.
Everton have scored fewer away goals than any other Premier League side this season (12), with this game being the eighth time they have failed to find the net on the road this season.
James Tarkowski failed to start a Premier League game for the first time since joining Everton. He had started 111 consecutive Premier League games before today, in a run stretching back to May 2022, but his absence brought an end to the third-longest run of consecutive starts for an outfield player in the competition's history, after Wayne Bridge (113 between 2000-2003) and Frank Lampard (112 between 2002-2005).
Chelsea 1-0 Everton - send us your thoughtspublished at 14:27 26 April
14:27 26 April
Were you at Stamford Bridge or following from elsewhere?
Sutton's predictions: Chelsea v Evertonpublished at 18:56 25 April
18:56 25 April
The worry for Everton is James Tarkowski is out for the season with the hamstring injury he sustained against Manchester City.
That is a massive blow for them at the back, because they did not look the same team defensively once he went off.
Everton are without striker Armando Broja too, because he is on loan from Chelsea and cannot face his parent club, but I feel like he has kind of been on trial in the past couple of games anyway.
David Moyes has been having a look at Broja, probably to weigh up whether or not to sign him permanently in the summer, but Everton are probably better off with Beto leading their attack.
He will be a threat running in behind when they try to break forward, and Abdoulaye Doucoure will get up there too in support.
They might get some joy here because while Chelsea are still in the mix for the top five after their fightback to beat Fulham, things are clearly still not right with them.
An element of their fans are just not having Enzo Maresca and his style of play, and it will be interesting to see how the Stamford Bridge crowd react if things don't go to plan on Saturday.
I am really not convinced by Chelsea's attack at the moment, especially with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson so out of form. Even with Tarkowski missing, they could struggle to break Everton down.
Moyes on Tarkowski, centre-half options and Chelseapublished at 14:34 25 April
14:34 25 April
Holly Bacon BBC Sport journalist
Media caption,
Everton boss David Moyes has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Chelsea (kick-off 12:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Moyes confirmed that James Tarkowski is out for the remainder of the season and will have an operation on his hamstring. He added: "It's a big blow to us because Tarky plays such a huge part of what we've done and how we've done so well in this period." He thinks the defender will be back for the start of pre-season but admitted it could start to "eat into that".
Moyes also confirmed Dominic Calvert-Lewin is close to returning to first-team training.
On the prospect of using Jake O'Brien at centre-half he said: "I think Jake is a centre-half so I'm not worried about doing it, that's for sure. It's trying to get the right balance for the team. He has done a brilliant job at full-back so sometimes you've got your decision to make. Do you change two positions or one position? We've got Michael Keane available as well so we've got options and we'll look to play the options between now and the end of the season and find which works best for us."
On Bramley-Moore Dock, he said: "My plan was that we'd go to the stadium and maybe do two or three training sessions as well - but they've gone and dug the pitch up. It looks as if I'm not going to get down to the new stadium at all at the moment, which I'm pretty disappointed in, to be honest." He said the modern player is used to playing at stadiums all over and that it is not something "completely strange" to them but "the point is to turn it into your home and feel comfortable and know your surroundings".
He also praised their performances in recent games but admitted they're in for a difficult game against Chelsea: "Their home record is good and actually we've not got a great record going to Stamford Bridge over the years either, so from that point of view we know we're up for a tough game. Against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, I think we've done very well and this period of games has been a difficult one. I go in there with real confidence and belief that we can go and try to make something happen again."
Tarkowski's run set to end - how good has he been?published at 11:35 25 April
11:35 25 April
James Tarkowski is highly likely to miss Everton's trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday with the hamstring injury that forced him off in the loss against Manchester City last weekend.
Tarkowski is on the longest current run of consecutive Premier League appearances, so this injury will break that sequence.
He has been a huge influence in the Everton team throughout the season, and the numbers behind his campaign support this.
He has currently won the highest proportion of aerial duels (minimum 100 duels) of all players in the Premier League this season (74.64%) ahead of Virgil van Dijk (71.24%) and Dan Burn (67.03%).
Tarkwoski also ranks second in the league for number of clearances this season, (209), behind only Nottingham Forest's Murillo (213).
'It is now all about the future'published at 16:06 23 April
16:06 23 April
Ian Kennedy BBC Radio Merseyside reporter
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It perhaps went under the national radar slightly over the weekend, but results finally confirmed Everton were mathematically safe.
Of course they had been all but safe for weeks and it was never in real doubt, but worth a mention nevertheless.
What a brilliant job David Moyes has done - and his players too, who have stepped up in the second half of the season.
There is no disgrace in losing to Manchester City, but yet there was a tinge of disappointment after holding Arsenal and beating Nottingham Forest recently.
It is now all about the future - the goodbye to Goodison and the hello to the new stadium.
Exciting times ahead and a big summer in terms of contracts and recruitment.
But knowing Moyes, he will be putting a big importance on the remaining games of this campaign - starting with another tough one away at Chelsea.
It is another chance to gauge where Everton are and where they could be next season. Happily for them, it will definitely be in the Premier League.
Gossip: Toffees face competition for Hanckopublished at 07:35 23 April
07:35 23 April
Everton are interested in Feyenoord's Slovakia centre-back David Hancko, 27, but face competition from Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. (Tuttomercatoweb - in Italian, external)
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