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The first derby of the season rolls around this weekend, and on the face of it, it seems abundantly clear how both sides will approach it. Everton have added a bunch of players this week (FFP is definitely a myth as they are basically spending the money banked from the sale of Richie-la. What about the debt racked up before then?) , but Lampard is clearly coaching them to indulge in the dark arts. This lot love to dive, throw in bad challenges and feign injury. They and their fans are of the belief that they are being given a rough ride by all and sundry but the truth is that everybody with the power and authority to deal with it has either been very lenient or turned a blind eye. Anyway: Skill. Heart. Intelligence. Tempo. Heads screwed on. Organisation. Urgency. Strength. Energy. Speed. I don’t ask for much. Last December we travelled to the pit and thoroughly dismantled them, and that game was our biggest win in this fixture since Rushie scored one, Rushie scored two, Rushie scored three and Rushie scored four. We threatened right from the off and put Everton completely on the back foot. It wasn’t long before Hendo found space on the edge of the box and carefully steered a curling effort into the bottom corner. Mo doubled our advantage when he raced clear down the right and curled the ball past the despairing reach of Pickford and into the (not quite!) top corner. We stepped off the gas a little after that, and Everton grabbed a consolation when Gray ran through after a defensive positional lapse put him one on one with Ali. The second half began with possession more even, but any thoughts of Everton grabbing a shock equaliser were snuffed out when a defensive howler in the middle of the pitch allowed Mo half the length of the pitch to charge into the area and place a deft finish past Pickford. 3-1 was a much better reflection of the chasm between the sides, and it got better for us when a Fowler-esque turn by Jota inside the area gave him the time and space to fire the ball into the roof of the net from 8 yards out. 4-1 it finished but it was more like that famous 5-0 in the early 80s. The big box office smash on 1st December 2021 was Disney’s animated feature Encanto. Set in Colombia, it’s something about a mystical village created by some powerful candle, and a family who escaped the ravages of war and find themselves in this peaceful paradise. Some stuff happens (you should be able to tell that I’m winging it here!) and the film is full of song and dance numbers. Encanto has proved to be hugely popular in a similar way to Frozen, only I’d say the fans are of a slightly older persuasion than the toddler generation who lost their shit over ‘Let It Go’. ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ is the film’s hit song, which went to number one in several countries including the UK’s Top 40. Encanto pretty much made its money back during its cinematic run but the big bucks have rolled in following its release on the Disney+ streaming channel and various other formats. One of the more interesting news stories on 1st December 2021 (at least one that wasn’t about Bojo’s clown outfit and their latest act of domestic sabotage, the rise of the Omicron variant, or Trump’s latest hard-done-by whinge and blatant grift) was the publication of a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit that claimed Israel’s Tel Aviv to be the most expensive city on Earth to live in, ahead of Paris and Singapore. Inflation in key areas regarding the cost of living was the primary factor in the results. I’d imagine that after what’s happened since then, not least in the UK, that there are loads most places around the world more expensive than Tel Aviv now. And they don’t have its nice location on the eastern Med. I mean, check out this pic! The early kick-off in the derby is because we travel to Napoli for our Champions League opener on Tuesday night. I don’t think any midfield addition we make today (currently doing the rounds is Juve’s Arthur Melo on loan) would be available anyway as they will need a work permit if they aren’t British, and they won’t have had any time to train with the squad yet anyway. If Melo is indeed on his way, he has not played at all since the end of last season after being cast aside by Juve coach Allegri. Hendo will be absent, Naby and Ox are of course unavailable, and Thiago is still to rejoin training. Curtis was on the bench against the Geordies so he should be available for the weekend at least. The mentality needs to be to play with a good tempo, don’t allow Everton’s shenanigans influence proceedings or get to us, and for fuck’s sake do not concede the first goal! We have players with the right focus, attitude and application but they really need to go out there and show it. Walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Go there, grab the points, win ugly if we have to, and shut those orcs up.