Everton Faces Stuttgart: A Pre-Season Spectacle
By the time Everton’s players finally wandered out at the MHPArena, the home side had already staged a full-blown spectacle.
Forty-five minutes before kick-off, VfB Stuttgart turned a routine pre-season friendly into something closer to a title fight introduction. Every member of the squad was announced individually. Music blared, fireworks cracked, and it all began with the club’s alligator mascot, Fritzle, taking centre stage like a headline act. There was even a photo opportunity with a robot. Of course there was.
While the Stuttgart MC worked through interviews on the pitch, building the atmosphere in the sweltering southern German heat, Everton emerged to… almost nothing. No fanfare, no fireworks. Just a quiet jog onto the turf as the stands slowly filled on the banks of the Neckar River.
The contrast was stark. The home side bathed in noise and pyrotechnics; the visitors slipping in like gatecrashers at someone else’s party.
Selection Calls and Defensive Curiosity
Beneath the theatre, this trip carried some serious interest for Everton.
The headline from their starting XI was at the back. Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien were finally paired together in central defence, a combination many had wanted to see. Branthwaite, starting on back-to-back weekends, and O’Brien, back in his natural role at centre-back, offered a more orthodox look at the heart of the back line.
That shift came with a cost. Someone still had to plug the gap at right-back, and this time it was Merlin Röhl pressed into service as the latest square peg in that particular round hole. The ongoing absence of a specialist in that position continues to hang over Everton’s pre-season, a point underlined by the fact even Prime Minister Andy Burnham has weighed in on the club’s need for a new right-back.
In midfield, the shape raised an eyebrow. With Iroegbunam, Armstrong and Hackney all named, the set-up looked more like a 4-3-3 than the familiar 4-2-3-1. Hackney’s inclusion, alongside Branthwaite, also spoke well of his fitness as both players build towards full sharpness.
Further forward, Dibling’s place in the XI offered another talking point. This week feels significant for him; a timely moment to find rhythm and confidence before the real stuff begins.
Up front, the job share continued. Beto and Thierno Barry are still effectively taking turns to lead the line, a rotation that has become one of the quieter themes of Everton’s summer.
A World Cup Return and a Split-Screen Afternoon
On the Stuttgart side, there was no place in the squad for Bilal El-Khannouss, the Moroccan midfielder still basking in the afterglow of his World Cup exploits. He did, however, receive a hero’s welcome, a reminder of how quickly reputations can grow on the international stage.
Back in England, Everton’s afternoon had a split-screen feel. While Sean Dyche’s side were preparing to test themselves against strong Bundesliga opposition, Goodison Park was stirring back to life. Preston North End were set to face Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup at 3pm, with the tie moved because the new pitch at Deepdale is still being bedded in.
It meant men’s senior football returned to the Grand Old Lady for the first time since Everton’s 2-0 win over Southampton on May 18 last year. One eye on Germany, one on L4 – a modern Everton juggling act.
Heat, Expectation and an Unfinished Squad
From his vantage point high in the press box, Joe Thomas watched the MHPArena slowly fill under oppressive heat. The stadium, a striking blend of old and new, offered a fitting backdrop for a squad still in transition.
Since the win in Hamburg a week earlier, Christian Nørgaard had come through the door, adding steel and nous to midfield. The right side of defence, though, remains the glaring omission. Every makeshift solution only sharpens the question: how long can this go on?
Inside the away dressing room, shirts were hung and boots lined up in neat rows, the calm before a test that will say more about rhythm and relationships than results. Pre-season rarely offers definitive answers, but it does reveal direction.
Stuttgart brought the fireworks. Everton brought a new centre-back pairing, a tweaked midfield and another reminder of a problem they still haven’t solved. Which of those will matter more when the real season starts?
