Getting Back to What Works
Everton had thrown in an alarming performance last week against Chelsea, playing with a surprisingly aggressive press, which exposed their high defensive line, resulting in a 6-0 humbling at Stamford Bridge. Grim stuff and on top of that dreadful performance, Sean Dyche’s public comments regarding his position as manager gave indication that all may not be ideal, in terms of relations between him and some members of the playing squad. This possibility gave rise to concerns, as the team would need to all be pulling in the same direction in order to keep clear of relegation.
Mercifully, Dyche’s fighting talk appeared to work – at least on the evidence presented on Sunday afternoon. Apart than a nervy start, in which the Blues looked a disorganized under pressure from Nottingham Forest, this was the steadiest, most solid effort the team has put in since the international break last month. There was no hint of disunity, or that the players lacked faith in their boss, or his methods. We saw a resumption of the style of play which was characteristic of the Toffees from late-September through to mid-December, but on few occasions thereafter.
Forest may not be the best team in the league, but their attack presents a reasonable threat and Everton handled it quite well. Other than Chris Wood’s close-range effort in the 40th minute – stopped impressively by Jordan Pickford – and a shot from Morgan Gibbs-White on the hour mark, which flashed past the far post following a glancing header from James Tarkowski, the Blues contained the visitors. This is encouraging – though a far sterner test awaits on Wednesday evening, when the Toffees play host to title-challenging Liverpool.
This was back to the standard Dyche template: reducing the game to one of few clear-cut chances, minimizing errors and costly turnovers of possession in the defensive and middle third of the pitch. Relying on moments of quality – two of which defeated Forest – a well-taken set-piece, or the dice falling the right way. Dead ball situations were universally awful. There’s no excuse for players continuously hitting the first man, or sending the ball flying directly out of play, with Andre Gomes the chief culprit on Sunday. Considering how poorly Forest defend set-pieces, this was a huge wasted opportunity.
The team has scored a few lucky goals of late and this time good fortune smiled upon them at the other end of the pitch, with Ashley Young amazingly judged not to have committed any of three possible fouls worthy of a Forest penalty, either by referee Anthony Taylor or VAR Stuart Attwell. Young’s first two offences were debatable, but the third – a clumsy slide into the back of Callum Hudson-Odoi – was as clear as they come. Everton dodged a bullet, but Young’s starting place in the side should be reconsidered.
If James Garner won’t be starting in midfield, then give him a shot at right back. He has all the attributes required by the position: energy, combativeness, decent quickness, an ability to get forward and overlap the winger and he can also swing a solid cross in. Moreover, he started five games at fullback for the England Under-21s during last summer’s European Championship, including the team’s 1-0 win over Spain in the final. What do Young or centre half Ben Godfrey offer there that Garner couldn’t?
Gueye Has to Play Every Game
Restored to the team’s lineup after a two-game break, initially as a result of his wife giving birth in the early hours, followed by a minor calf problem, was Idrissa Gueye. It was apparent almost immediately how much this side misses his steadying presence. The veteran is the kind of player who often goes unnoticed, with so much of his game going under the radar, but when he’s not on the pitch his absence is obvious.
He’s the only one of Everton’s midfield options with a well-developed positional sense, indicated by the way he will move to block off opponents and passing lanes, instead of chasing the ball. The ability to press energetically is a genuine asset, but Gana does the hard work inside his head, anticipating the flow of the game. He’s no longer quite the athlete he was during his first stint on Merseyside, when he seemed to be able to cover the entire width of the pitch by himself, but he’s probably a smarter operator these days
The Ghanaian was fourth on the team for touches (54), behind only Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko and Dwight McNeil and he took good care of the ball, leading the hosts with a 87.2% pass completion. He’s composed in possession, a calming influence in midfield and can also elude pressure and carry the ball forward, initiating attacks from a deep position. Defensively, he’s still top-notch, contributing eight recoveries and a combined six tackles and interceptions, as well as coming out on top in five of six ground duels.
Most fans familiar with the accuracy of Gueye’s long-range shooting would have expected his effort in the 29th minute to go flying well wide of the goal, but this time he got over the ball and steered it through a crowd of bodies, the ball glancing off the inside of the far post on the way in. Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels was late to react – possibly being unsighted – but the midfielder’s shot was well-struck and nicely placed.
Gueye is now 34, but has clearly taken great care of himself and Everton would be smart to offer him a new one-year contract as soon as possible. They do look a bit of mess without him.
Everton’s Width Problem
McNeil put in his best outing for quite some time and scored his first goal in more than four months with a clever finish from around 25 yards out, which completely foxed Sels. From a centre-right position, the winger opened his body up and shaped to shoot across goal, only to quickly twist and fire it inside the near post. He totally fooled the Forest goalkeeper, who had been edging to his right and was unable to adjust in time.
The five goals that McNeil scored between March and May last season were crucial to Everton’s revival under his old Burnley boss, but they’ve have been in short supply this term. He has the quality in his left foot to chip in with another couple before the end of the campaign, which would greatly help the team out during the run-in and Dyche has to find ways to get the 24-year-old into shooting positions.
On Sunday, the left winger drifted infield more than I can ever recall him doing, though the tendency for him to do this has increased as the campaign has progressed — admittedly not typically with the effect we saw against Forest. Usually, this results in a chronically left-footed player cutting in on his weak side, where he can be easily pressured into a back pass, slowing the team’s attacking efforts. Him drifting inside also leaves a big vacancy on the left wing, which the primarily defensive Mykolenko does not exploit.
With Jack Harrison operating on the right either unwilling, or unable to beat his man on the outside, Everton’s attack becomes lop-sides and one-dimensional, which was apparent again at the weekend. The on-loan Leeds United man works hard, but his crossing was poor (zero of six completed) and he’s just not offering any threat. Both wingers lack pace and the ability to get up the pitch in support of the team’s lone striker, especially so when the team drops deeper.
Neither McNeil not Harrison get forward enough, the two combining for just two touches in the Forest penalty area. Abdoulaye Doucoure did his best to help out from a deeper midfield role, but ahead of him Gomes operated more as an advanced pivot, rather than a genuine attacking presence. Dominic Calvert-Lewin cut an isolated figure and much of Everton’s crossing inefficiency is due to a lack of targets to hit in the opposition box.
An option would be to move McNeil to the right, where he can cut in on his left foot to greater effect than Harrison is managing and to start the faster, more direct Arnaut Danjuma on the left, where he’ll offer genuine width and a willingness to drive into the box. The Blues got away with it a little at the weekend, but will need to create more concrete chances than the two they scored from on Sunday, which combined for an xG (Expected Goals) metric of just 0.07 and will be tough to replicate.
Statistics provided courtesy of fbref.com and fotmob.com