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Round Holes etc.
It was deflating to learn what Everton’s starting lineup would be, an hour or so before Monday night’s game against Manchester United. Some of it, such as the decision to field promising young midfielder Harrison Armstrong in a wide position – for the fourth straight time, three of them starts – was expected, if not understandable. Likewise, deploying James Garner, the club’s player of the season (so far) and strongest midfielder, at right back to cover for the suspended Jake O’Brien (also not a fullback), was hardly a surprise. Seeing as David Moyes was not realistically going to put out a back three, it was evident that Jarrad Branthwaite, without a shadow of a doubt the team’s best centre half – by some distance – would be used as makeshift left back, with Michael Keane reinstated alongside James Tarkowski.
Now, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Blues boss must have had his hands tied here, to be using so many players out of position. Surely our luckless club must have again been impacted by another injury crisis, requiring a juggling of available assets? No, these were actual choices, for a cursory glance at the hosts’ bench would reveal no less than three full backs sitting alongside three wingers. To remind readers, the Toffees started three central defenders and five midfielders, but only one winger, in Iliman Ndiaye and no natural fullbacks. Another wide man – loanee Tyrique George – would make an appearance in the 73rd minute, after the home side had fallen behind.
Moyes would make just two changes during the match, with Beto making his customary ineffectual appearance with eleven minutes to go, managing two touches during this time, along with George. We may as well have stocked the bench with the usual two goalkeepers and Under-21 hopefuls for all the use they were. How did those played out of position fare? Garner couldn’t play a bad game if he tried at the moment, but for sure he contributes a lot more in midfield than fullback. I’d rather see Armstrong given less minutes, but in the position he’s going to play for us, rather than stuck out wide. As for JB, he’s a class act who could still force his way into the England setup for the World Cup with a strong climax to the campaign, but only if he’s playing centre half, because a left back he is not.
Odd Patterns
The vague hope that Garner’s energy and footballing ability would provide some support for the typically isolated Ndiaye on the right, in place of the lumbering O’Brien, was curtailed by Everton’s preoccupation with forcing their attacking play down the left. Yes, the flank which contained a young and inexperienced natural midfielder (Armstrong) and another giant centre half masquerading as a full back (Branthwaite). The latter’s heatmap was focused high up inside the United half (incidentally where the speedy defender would be, during United’s decisive breakaway goal), though rarely in advanced crossing positions (two were attempted, both unsuccessful). Only three of Jordan Pickford’s 32 passes (almost all long balls) were sent to the right. Why? Who knows.
The team has focused its play to the left all season, which was maybe understandable when Jack Grealish was fit, but to continue this without him makes no sense. Ndiaye is not a creative passer, but is Everton’s main attacker — or at least should be. The Senegalese is more of a wide forward than a winger, yet spent the entire match hugging the touchline, but not impacting the game, attempting one cross (incomplete) and no shots on goal. I was surprised to see that he was successful in eight of nine dribbles, but he was so isolated that these produced nothing. Of his 16 carries, just one was progressive. Signing Grealish necessitated Ndiaye’s move to the right, but now Jack is out, why is he still there?
George, or the forgotten man that is Tyler Dibling can both play right wing, allowing Ndiaye to switch to the left, where he’s more of a threat and can link up with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who tends to move in that direction. Playing him on the right was a gamble which paid off during the first half of the campaign, as Grealish’s presence drew a lot of opposition attention, freeing up Ndiaye, but he’s now scored only once (a penalty) since his wonder goal against Sunderland, at the Stadium of Light in early November (eleven games). He was Everton’s most dangerous player last season, on the left, and the reason for switching him to the opposite flank no longer exists, so it’s time to move him back.
The European Fallacy
There are a few things that I’m heartily sick of hearing about this season, and our supposed European push is one of them. Like most other fans, I got caught up in this talk for a while, because after enduring some truly grim years watching and writing about Everton (I joined RBM in October 2021, during Benitez’s time in the dugout), much of the past year has been comparatively upbeat. So yeah, where’s the harm in getting a little excited about the club skipping a year or two of rebuilding mode, and heading straight to the questionable delights of playing the likes of Jagiellonia Białystok in the Conference League, or even – gulp – the mighty Ludogorets in the Europa League? Dare to dream, right!
What is kind of messing with this fantasising though, is the weekly reminders that we are “only three points off seventh”, routinely following on from another desultory home performance. Whilst this is currently true – and this is an indictment of the overall quality of the middle fifty percent of the Premier League – it also has to be noted that the Blues are just three points ahead of 14th-place Brighton, a club experiencing a “difficult” sophomore season under the frighteningly youthful Fabian Hürzeler – who turns 33 on February 26th, making him seven years younger than Seagulls über-veteran James Milner, and a year the junior of returning midfielder Pascal Groß.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d happily take qualifying for the Conference League — a competition that any English top-flight side should handily win, offering Everton the opportunity to end its decades-long silverware drought, which long ago reached an embarrassing duration. But the question is, how realistic is this objective, considering the team can’t win a game at home? Monday’s failure meant a return of two points from six matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The Blues continue to plunder impressive results away, but is this a sustainable route to a top seven or eight finish? Despite these road heroics, we are just one of eight comparable teams fighting for one or two European spots. Given a tough remaining schedule, it’s unlikely we’ll get there, so let’s park the overly rosy talk for a while.
Jack and Liam
Less than a month after the conclusion of the winter transfer window, rumours abound regarding supposed summer targets for the Blues. Ignoring the more fanciful chat, and the predictable, tiresome links to the club’s better players leaving to join the division’s alleged “elite” sides, there’s a couple of links which are more substantive. One is the eventual destination of Grealish, currently rehabilitating his fractured foot at Finch Farm. Talk is cheap and easy, but I do believe that the likeable, and talented winger would like to stay at Everton, and I’m sure Moyes would want this also, so it’s a matter of determining a fee and what wages are realistic.
His £300k per week contract at Manchester City still has another year to run, after this season. Grealish turns 31 in September and the leaked-to-the-media £50m option we supposedly have on him is ludicrous for a player of that age, who City actively want rid of. The Mancunians need approximately £16m in the summer, for Jack’s exit to not cost them on their accounts, so a figure of that order is reasonable. However, it’s hard to imagine Everton would be willing to hand him big wages, despite his impact so far, so the most likely solution may be another loan deal, and to revisit a permanent deal when he becomes a free agent, should his performance levels warrant such a move.
The other name being bandied around is Liam Delap, who was the club’s preferred striker target last summer, contact having been made before he opted to sign for Chelsea, with Ipswich Town banking £30m. Much in demand after firing 12 league goals for the relegated Suffolk outfit, Delap has struggled to convince in the capital, scoring just twice in 25 outings in all competitions (12 starts). Could the 23-year-old be another Dewsbury-Hall — a quality player quickly deemed expendable at Stamford Bridge? Maybe so, but the jury is out on how good he actually is, and consequently any deal would have to be on favourable terms, after his failure to step up this term.
Rough and Tumble Antics
Moyes used colourful language in heavily praising United goalkeeper Senne Lammens after the game, also indicating that he’d dealt well with Everton’s intention to exploit a perceived vulnerability on set-pieces. This explains the hosts’ neanderthal tactics on corners — which involved trying to crowd the Belgian, with no noticeable results. This season has seen an emphasis on corners, indirect free kicks — and even a callback to the Tony Pulis Stoke City era, in the form of long throws. This latter trend has led to long delays as centre halves make their way forward whenever a throw is taken anywhere near the final third.
On Monday, this took the form of some truly unimaginative corner routines from the Toffees, and plenty of unedifying grappling, with James Tarkowski in particular doing more wrestling than I care to see, all in an attempt to obstruct the movement of Lammens, without this getting called by the officials. This is a depressing recent development in the game, and I hope that the powers-that-be clamp down on it ahead of next season, because this brainless nonsense is far removed from what most fans want from a football match.
Statistics provided courtesy of transfermarkt.com and sofascore.com