David Moyes has a big task on his hands if he’s to turn things around at Everton, but he’s managed to get off to a decent start in his second spell at the club. The returning manager has made slight tweaks to the team, already has a win under his belt, and is hoping for new arrivals before the end of January.
By James Nalton
The first half of Everton’s 3-2 win against Spurs last weekend was a good example from Moyes of how to get the most out of a limited squad at a club that in the past four seasons have not spent more on transfers that they have received — the only Premier League team with such numbers.
It has meant that when Everton do spend money or bring in new players, they need to make it count in the first team. That had not been the case so far this season, but was something Moyes got to work on straight away.
Everton’s most expensive signing of the summer was 23-year-old Jake O’Brien who cost around £17m from Lyon, but the towering Irish defender had not started in the Premier League prior to the Spurs game under Moyes.
O’Brien’s inclusion was not merely a gesture based on the fee spent. It was part of an attempt by Moyes to get the most from what he has to work with, and he adapted his formation to suit these players.
O’Brien was used in a dual role which was relatively straightforward, and when seen in action seemed like an obvious solution.
When Everton were in possession, O’Brien operated as a defensive right full-back and was exactly the kind of right-back you might expect a 6ft 6in defender to be.
When Everton were defending, he tucked in to form a back three to the right of central defender James Tarkowski and left-sided centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite. As an added bonus, this additional height at the back is also very useful at set pieces.
“Quite often young centre-backs make their debuts playing at full-back,” Moyes said of O’Brien’s role.
“I did too, as a young player, and a lot of them do, so maybe he has to find his way a little bit.
“But we also tried to use his ability on the ball to help us build a little bit better — at times with four at the back and at times with three at the back.”
Moving on to look at the player who took up the right-back position alongside O’Brien in defence introduces another successful tweak made by Moyes — the addition of another summer signing, the on-loan Jesper Lindstrøm as an all-encompassing right-sided player.
As well as dropping into the full-back position to the right of O’Brien in defence, Lindstrøm also burst forward as a right winger in attack. The Dane played a part in the first and third Everton goals against Spurs, and was the best player on the pitch, receiving a standing ovation when subbed later in the second half. And it’s maybe no surprise the Spurs goals came once he was off the pitch.
All of this meant that, out of possession, Everton were in a 5-3-2 formation with Abdoulaye Doucouré often pushing up alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and a middle three of Iliman Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye, and Orel Mangala.
Both Ndiaye and Mangala were summer signings, too, and Ndiaye has been Everton’s standout player this season. He’s been a clearly outstanding player in a bad team, and this slight tweak to the formation meant he was slightly more involved.
Being part of a midfield three in defence, with the support of left-back Vitalii Mykolenko behind him, meant Ndiaye was more central during transition moments rather than out wide.
His ability to keep the ball under pressure and also dribble out of tight situations was important, and the one-two he played with Gueye produced the space for him to drive forward and score the best of the five goals scored in that match.
These changes from Moyes were fairly simple but highly effective. They used the strengths of the existing players and got the best out of four of the new signings that arrived in the summer.
When Ndiaye and Lindstrøm were subbed in the second half, the standard dropped, but there was still a plan behind the changes.
Attacking full-back Nathan Patterson should be the ideal substitute on the right, coming on in place of O’Brien if Everton are chasing the game, or giving Lindstrom a rest if they are leading as was the case versus Spurs.
Ashley Young and Michael Keane came on to add experience in order to try to see the game out, but overall there is an obvious lack of quality depth in this Everton team, and Moyes wants to sign reinforcements in the January transfer window.
The news last week that the club has now resolved its profit and sustainability issues might give them a bit of leeway to sign a player or two.
“We definitely need to try and keep adding,” Moyes said after the Spurs game, reflecting his comments after his first game back in charge against Aston Villa when he said: “We’re desperately needing to add some quality in certain areas; mainly to create and craft goals and, it looks like at times, to finish as well.”
Moyes appears to have a clear idea of where his team’s strengths lie and where they need improvements, and is already pushing to make the most of those strengths while, he hopes, going some way to addressing those weaknesses in this transfer window.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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