Everton’s second season at Goodison Park begins with more than a fixture and a point total hanging over it. It begins with a new manager, a reshaped attack and the sense that this club is trying to turn a decent platform into something sturdier. Crystal Palace vs Everton is not the kind of opener that decides a campaign, but it can tell us whether Everton’s summer has given them a better base than the one that produced an eighth-place finish last season.
Scott Phelan was formally appointed in June after a four-month spell in interim charge, and that alone makes this a different Everton side from the one that finished last term. The club have also been active in the market, signing Jutta Rantala, Noémie Mouchon, Hannah Cain, Holly McNamara and Hannah Silcock, while making Zara Kramzar, Hannah Blundell and Naomi Layzell permanent or loan additions. That is a meaningful reset, especially for a team operating on a relatively small budget compared with Chelsea.
A more obvious attacking plan
The clearest reason for optimism is that Everton now look better equipped to attack in waves rather than rely on isolated moments. A newly assembled forward group changes the feel of the side, and the additions suggest a team trying to become harder to predict as well as harder to contain. That matters in the WSL, where narrow margins often separate a mid-table finish from a genuine push upward.
There is also a structural element to this. Everton’s women’s team shares Finch Farm with the men’s team, and the club’s renewed investment under Roundhouse Capital Holdings has created the kind of environment where continuity matters as much as headline signings. Phelan’s job is to make the parts fit quickly, because early momentum can matter more than almost anything for a squad still learning itself.
A favourable opening run
The schedule offers a decent chance to settle. Everton begin with Crystal Palace and Charlton, then Birmingham, West Ham and Liverpool, and they do not meet any of last season’s top three until November. That is a relatively kind start by any standard, and it gives Phelan a real opportunity to build rhythm before the season gets more demanding.
That does not mean the run is easy in the sense of guaranteed points. It means Everton should have room to establish patterns, bed in new players and avoid being forced into panic mode early. For a team that finished eighth and wants to climb, the first phase of the season is less about proving everything at once than about collecting evidence that this version can be more efficient than the last one.
The bigger question is whether Everton can turn a stronger-looking squad into a stronger league position. A small-budget club cannot afford much waste, and the table rarely rewards teams that need too long to find cohesion. But if Phelan’s new attack clicks quickly enough, Everton’s opening stretch could become the springboard for a more ambitious season than many expect.
