JACK THE LAD: Grealish punishment has exposed unavoidable truth for Moyes and Everton

David Moyes has cannily left the door slightly open for Jack Grealish to return to the Everton squad after this week's disciplinary episode.

But beyond the question of whether the £100m man Grealish ever plays for Everton again, is if the Blues are actually a better team without him?

Moyes gave typically straight no-nonsense answers to most of the Grealish questions after Monday's 1-0 win over Newcastle, insisting he doesn't know when the winger is going to be available again.

With Everton's ridiculously small squad of just 18 outfield players, this is no time for drastic measures. But with Grealish sanctioned and excluded for his failure to report for training, Moyes's side have won two on the bounce.

In the space of just five days, they have pulled off a brace of victories over Newcastle United that are potentially season-defining results.

Those victories have now posed the million-dollar question - or perhaps the £100million question in Grealish’s case - are Everton actually better off without him?

The short-term answer at least is a resounding yes.

Moyes - and Everton top brass - displayed a leap of faith to bring Grealish back on transfer deadline day this year but unfortunately, he has let them - and the thousands of supporters who have taken him to their hearts - down badly with this latest misdemeanour.

A Liverpool Echo poll of Everton fans shows a sign of a fanbase torn.

As of Monday evening, the results were split:

Grealish may have been a late marquee signing to appease disgruntled fans, but the profile of Moyes's squad and the underlying stats show an evolution away from what Grealish brings.

With the way that the former Aston Villa man can play at his own pace, slow the game down and win clever free-kicks - best exemplified last season, as he helped the Toffees become the first side to win at Old Trafford with 10 men - the 31-year-old might have been primed to go straight back in at St James’ Park.

However, without him, Everton dominated proceedings against Matthias Jaissle’s hapless rabble, who now look a shadow of the side that ended the Magpies’ 70-year domestic trophy drought in 2025.

Instead, the Blues possessed explosive pace down both flanks, with the athletic Merlin Rohl powering down the right and Grealish's usual spot on the left going to the tricky Tyrique George, who is his junior by more than a decade - and perhaps the future of this side.

Opta stats for Everton with and without Grealish since the start of last season, 2025-26, show:

It might not have been pretty but the only goal of the game came from George asking a question - in increasingly slippery conditions- of Toon 'keeper Lucas Hornicek who allowed the ball to go through his fingers and provide striker Thierno Barry with a tap-in.

As Moyes acknowledged in the post-match press conference, there is of course a way back for Grealish in the longer term.

But even if the attacking midfielder does regain his match fitness to become available for selection at home to Coventry City in Friday’s final fixture before the second international break this term, the dynamics of this side have changed and he no longer looks like the key man he once was.

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