Leighton Baines helped Everton edge out their Europa League qualifier with Ruzomberok.

The defender’s long-range strike gave a new-look Blues side a slender advantage after they had struggled to create chances for large parts of the first half.

A host of summer signings made their competitive debuts, including Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane, Cuco Martina and Sandro Ramirez.

But it was Baines’ drilled goal midway through the second half which ensured Ronald Koeman’s side take a slender advantage to Slovakia next Thursday.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

This team needs time to gel

 

With four new faces starting and another featuring with Sandro Ramirez’s second-half introduction, this was very much a new Everton team.

It was a fact that proved telling as the Blues lacked the general cohesiveness that a more established set of teammates tends to enjoy.

On several occasions a stray pass was met with groans from a sold out Goodison Park crowd expecting more following a summer of unprecedented spending.

It is still easy to forget that this team is still only midway through its pre-season preparations and playing their first competitive fixture of the new campaign.

More game time is required before Koeman’s true vision is seen, especially with three more signings expected to join the ranks before the end of the summer.

No first team chance for Kenny

 

With the success of Tom Davies in the second half of last season, Evertonians have been keen to discover which youngster wlll be next to make the step up.

All signs pointed to Jonjoe Kenny after excellent performances for club and country as a title-winner at under-23 level and World Cup success with England.

Both exploits combined with Seamus Coleman’s prolonged recovery appeared to have given Kenny his window of opportunity to follow Davies into the first-team.

Early indications suggest that may no longer be the case.

Cuco Martina was preferred in the right-back role, a sign of faith from Koeman that it would not be surprising to see that continue as the season progresses.

Having raised hopes of an extended first-team run with his brief appearances at the end of the last campaign, that would be an incredibly cruel turn for Kenny,

Blues hurting from a lack of width

 

With Yannick Bolasie sidelined until later this year and Aaron Lennon unlikely to be a regular starter, Everton are desperately short when it comes to wide options.

Indeed, it is surprising that no wingers have been linked with the move to Goodison at any point in an unprecedented summer of spending.

The evidence provided against Ruzomberok suggests that Koeman would be unwise to resist the temptation to make such a signing.

With Kevin Mirallas and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on either wing, Everton were ponderous up front and lacked the width that was needed to open up the game.

As Calvert-Lewin demonstrated with England under-20s earlier this summer, both players are better suited when deployed in more central roles.

Koeman has stated he wants three more signings in this window but adding a fourth to that list and targeting a true winger would be a smart decision.

Klaassen already looks a smart buy

 

Some signings in Everton’s busy transfer window invariably flew under the radar.

Davy Klaassen is guilty of suffering from that, with his and Jordan Pickford’s respective arrivals seemingly forgotten amid the Wayne Rooney fanfare.

But the Holland international could prove to be one of the smarter captures if the evidence provided here is anything resembling a reliable benchmark.

He was sharp, linking well with Rooney up front and providing Everton with the sort of driving force from midfield that has been sorely missing for several years.

Klaassen was unlucky not to find himself on the score sheet on his debut but expect him to be a key component for Koeman’s side on all fronts this season.