Michael Keane choice, Roman Dixon transfer plea - Sean Dyche 'dismal' Everton verdict delivered

Everton kicked off their season in the worst way possible on Saturday when they were beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion. Goals from Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra condemned the Blues to a 3-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

Blues boss Sean Dyche was left fuming after his Everton side had a penalty decision overturned at the start of the second-half, while his side also saw Ashley Young sent off after he was shown a straight red card for bringing down Mitoma as he looked to race clear on goal.

Next up for Everton is their first away game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur. However, before the game in the capital, our fan jury have returned to have their say on the events of the last week.

Paul McParlan - Another dismal day at Goodison Park

After being outplayed by a vibrant Brighton & Hove Albion side on Saturday, it is only right that questions should be asked about Sean Dyche’s team selection. Did he pick the best eleven from the options available?

Dyche has shown that he will not gamble on young players, and so it was no surprise when 23-year-old Jake O’Brien was left out in favour of the hapless Michael Keane. When will the manager learn what the fans have known for years that Keane never has and never will be the answer?

It was no coincidence that James Tarkowski produced one of his worst displays playing alongside his error-prone partner, and his failure to anticipate danger unsettled the whole back four. Surely O’Brien would have been the better choice here? Since he came back from injury, Abdoulaye Doucoure has scored once in 14 games and is clearly not the same player he was.

His only contribution to the game was to give the assistant referee plenty of exercise in raising the offside flag. Without goals, it is hard to justify his place in the side, especially when Iliman Ndiaye can fulfil that role.

Given the lack of options, it was understandable that Ashley Young would start at right back, but he needed more support from Jack Harrison. The bigger question here is why has it taken Everton longer to find a viable alternative right-back?

After Young was dismissed, it might have made sense to have brought on Mason Holgate immediately rather than waiting 20 minutes to do so. The sight of thousands streaming for the exits when he came onto the pitch told its own story. For the visit to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Jake O’Brien simply has to start in defence instead of Michael Keane.

Dyche will probably go for Mason Holgate at right back, but surely young under-21 prospect Roman Dixon deserves a chance over a player who has no future at Everton. At some stage this season, the manager should gamble on youth. Brighton had the 19-year-old Jack Hinshelwood playing the full 90 minutes at left back on Saturday, and it worked well.

Up front, it looks like Dominic Calvert-Lewin is set on a deadline day move; is now the chance to give Beto a run in the team? And should Iliman Ndiaye start instead of the misfiring Doucoure? Sean Dyche has never quite got the hang of making game-changing substitutes, but in modern football, the ability to introduce key players at the right time is part and parcel of decisive management.

If a player is not performing, bring somebody else on! It really is that simple! In fairness, it doesn’t help the manager that we are a club with no money, no functioning owner, no direction, and no long-term strategy. Still, things can only get better, can’t they?

Luke Davies - Dyche needs to trust a player 100% before he gives them a chance

The season did not start as planned last weekend; a game against Brighton, who were under a new manager, should have been a victory, but this is Everton; they don’t do routine victories.

I can’t help but look at the team selection and scratch my head. How many more chances is Michael Keane going to be given in an Everton shirt? It baffles me that we signed a centre-back in Jake O'Brien, but Sean Dyche still insists on selecting Keane.

I’d understand if O’Brien was 18, but he’s 23 with more or less a full season under his belt in Ligue 1 - surely a match at home against Brighton would be something he could be trusted to perform in. Another gripe I had was the omission of Iliman Ndiaye; he played well in pre-season only to see Abdoulaye Doucoure starting the first game.

It seems as though Dyche needs to trust a player 100% before he gives them a chance - but how he trusts Keane makes me wonder. The backline looked way too lethargic to start any games. I’m a huge James Tarkowski fan, but I feel he is helped massively by Jarrad Braithwaite's turn of pace at times, and from what I can see, O’Brien is quicker than Keane.

Moving on to the Spurs, the manager has a decision to make: stick with Keane or mix it up. Ashley Young's sending off also causes a headache for Dyche. With Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson and makeshift right-back James Garner all out, he may have to put faith in 19-year-old full-back Roman Dixon, although I feel he’s more likely to play a central defender such as O’Brien or even play Mason Holgate there.

It will be a tough test at Spurs, and a point or anything more is a bonus. Come on, Everton.

Alex McMonnies - Throwing him in against Tottenham would be a ludicrous decision

It was not the start to the final season at Goodison Park that we were all hoping for, and there has been a lot of anger following the 3-0 defeat to Brighton.

A positive opening 20 minutes that was met with boundless enthusiasm around the ground paled in comparison to the final 20 in which the Seagulls freely passed the ball around and launched attack after attack against a ten-man Everton team in utter disarray at the back. The decision to bring Mason Holgate in a bid to stem the tide towards the end was the final straw for many inside Goodison and represented the latest choice made by Sean Dyche that day, which antagonised so many within the fanbase that day.

Just like in the first few games of last season when Jarrad Branthwaite was being nursed back to full fitness, Michael Keane was given the nod over new signing Jake O'Brien at the back. While the scoreline hardly makes for kind reading, I don't believe Keane had a particularly poor game, although the lack of a coherent partnership between him and James Tarkowski did cause issues. Dyche has shown before he is able to manage his players well if he doesn't believe them to be ready, and if easing O'Brien in means we get the best out of him later down the line, I'm all for it.

As for Ashley Young, he also hadn't played badly before he was caught out by Kaoru Mitoma, and the fact is the manager's hands were tied on that one. Evertonians made it clear what they thought of the only other viable alternative when Holgate was introduced late in the game. Roman Dixon is clearly a prospect, but it was only really his blistering pace that caught the eye during pre-season rather than anything he'd done well defensively. Throwing him in against Tottenham would be a ludicrous decision and one I am convinced Dyche will not make.

Although it will largely be forgotten, Saturday's result flattered Brighton as the Toffees had been on top for large portions, and fixtures against teams like that will not define our season. There are still players to come back as well as new ones to introduce into the fold, and once the squad is closer to full fitness in and around October, I think the decision not to throw the new signings straight in will look like the right one.

James O’Brien - I feel Dyche should just take a risk

Play the same team and get the same results. That’s the best explanation I have for what happened against Brighton on the weekend.

Last year, I could describe most games as Everton starting well, couldn’t capitalise, and were wasteful in attack. These all applied once again, and it wasn’t really a shock to anyone.

The choice to start Michael Keane was a strange one. Did we sign Jake O’Brien with minimal funds to be our fourth choice? Yeah, he hasn’t got 'Premier League' experience, but he’s far from a complete novice to the sport.

He qualified for Europe with Lyon last season and learnt his craft prior with full seasons at Swindon and RWD Molenbeek. The same thing happened last season; Dyche refused to start Jarrad Branthwaite in favour of Keane again and was eventually proven wrong. People have also criticised the Ashley Young start; however, apart from being an actual novice in Roman Dixon, he didn’t have much of a choice to make there.

The attack is poor; we have no killer instincts upfront, and I was very disappointed that none of our new signings got a proper chance. Dominic Calvert-Lewin looked like he didn’t care, and the balls crossed into him were horrendous. But it’s not like we didn’t know that; we had a whole season of the same issue last season.

Personally, I feel Dyche should just take a risk and don’t worry about the 'Premier League experience'. Yankuba Minteh was thrown straight in, and looked great. Tim Iroegbunam also doesn’t have that experience, and he was probably our best player on Saturday.

Looking on to Tottenham, there’s a big decision to make for Dyche after Young’s red card and Keane’s performance. I have seen ideas of Harrison and McNeil being used as wingbacks floating around, which I don’t believe is the worst idea but definitely not great.

Dixon has had his calls to start, but I do believe it is a very risky move to have him make his debut away to Champions League-chasing Tottenham and dealing with Heung-Min Son. Overall, I would feel the most confident in the Harrison/McNeil partnership, but I hope the rumours of Kieran Trippier are true and that we can get a bit of reliability at right-back.