As Frank Lampard and Kevin Thelwell continue their work to reshape Everton's squad, there is one area that they must address this summer.
The duo will have to work smart on both incomings and departures as they look to trim a bloated and underperforming group, while also adding quality without repeating transfer mistakes of past windows under owner Farhad Moshiri.
Everton suffered from a dearth of creativity across the campaign and failed to score in 11 of their 38 Premier League games last season. Despite netting 43 goals, which was only four fewer than the 47 they scored under Carlo Ancelotti in the 2020/21 season’s 10th placed finish, there was one glaring difference.
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Under Ancelotti that year, Everton created 48 ‘big chances’. However, during 2021/22 the Blues created just 33 big chances, 15 fewer than the previous year. A big chance is defined by Opta as: “A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in a one on one scenario or from very close range when the ball has a clear path to goal and there is low to moderate pressure on the shooter. Penalties are always considered big chances.”
A key factor in this was most likely due to the absence of arguably Everton’s two most creative assets this season. James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne both contributed hugely to the Toffees’ attacking output under Ancelotti. Rodriguez scored six times, provided four assists and created 11 big chances in just 23 games before his departure to Qatari club Al-Rayyan last summer. Digne contributed seven assists and created 11 big chances before departing for Aston Villa in January earlier this year, having been initially frozen out by Rafa Benitez.
Any club losing this firepower would struggle. The players brought into fill that creative void are all good players and contributed towards Everton’s survival but haven’t been able to provide the same quality. Anthony Gordon excelled this campaign after returning from a loan spell at Preston last season but between him and summer additions Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, the trio scored 12 goals, provided eight assists and created just 12 big chances. This was in comparison to the 11 assists and 22 big chances from the aforementioned Rodriguez and Digne in 2020/21.
Even during the unforgettable Palace win, the sensational comeback was powered more by sheer pressure and energy from the Goodison Park crowd, than any particular creative expertise. However, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Digne's replacement, after an initial bedding in period, has impressed. He has started to show his attacking credentials, winning Everton’s goal of the season with his superb volley against Leicester.
It must also be noted that a team struggling at the bottom end is always likely to have less of the ball and create fewer chances. This is coupled with Lampard’s pragmatic 5-4-1 style during the run-in. The absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and his ability to bring others into play as a target man is also a factor while Gray and Gordon both did make big contributions during the final stretch of the season.
Whatever happens, it is clear that Everton need to add some creativity to the squad to help Lampard as he looks to rebuild and rejuvenate an underperforming side into one that will play an exciting brand of football.
