With a 3-1 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday for Everton, it’s fair to say there were few positives at all for fans to take from the game.
Having been unbeaten, albeit not exactly spectacular with our draws, so far in the Premier League campaign of 2018/19 under manager Marco Silva, it was our first defeat and underlying tensions for some fans certainly came out during and after the game had finished – but that’s to be expected after such a disappointment, especially when you factor in the Hammers’ form so far this year.
One small positive and ray of light that a few fans on social media channels took was the substitute showing of summer signing Bernard who came on for Morgan Schneiderlin in the game.
Bernard is just richarlison but smaller and it’s great
— Louis Melia EFC (@LouisMeliaEFC) September 16, 2018
Pickford- bad game
Digne- promising
Jonjoe Kenny -not the level we need
Holgate- should be 5th choice
Tosun- needs to sort his head out
DCL -not good enough
Bernard looks special #efc— Jiff Jaff (@Rezahjaff) September 16, 2018
Bernard looked decent.
— Jack (@EfcJack_) September 16, 2018
I'd say Bernard was a definite positive.
— Jayne McCready (@jaynetoffee) September 16, 2018
Can tell Bernard is an absolute nuisance, yeah he’s small but he’s small and skillfull enough to wriggle out of tackles and make a problem of himself
— smart those jeans ☭ (@EFC_Dan) September 16, 2018
Bernard needs to be starting week in and out now
— Kevin_K (@KevinK_EFC1878) September 16, 2018
Bernard is so silky on the ball, lovely to watch
— $LENDERMAN???? (@EFCMatthew) September 16, 2018
Having come in from Shakhtar Donetsk on a freebie in August, the 26-year-old was considered quite a capture given the clubs he reportedly turned down but he has been restricted to only two showings from the bench so far as he settles into life at the club.
Given his performance on Sunday, it’s no surprise to some fans feel that his time is now.
We’ll have to see if Silva agrees.