Sean Dyche claimed fine margins were to blame for his side’s defeat at Manchester United but with Abdoulaye Doucoure’s absence creating a massive void in the centre of the park, the Everton manager must now assess whether the 4-4-2 formation that was his tactical bedrock, forging his reputation for almost a decade at Burnley can be deployed effectively with the Blues.
After the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford, which could have easily been a far heavier reversal, costly both in terms of both goal difference and morale had it not been for the brilliance in the Everton goal of England number one Jordan Pickford, Dyche said: “Too many stepped slightly off their performance levels today. There were a number who played very well but being slightly off is enough when you come to places like this.”
That might have been the case but the numbers suggest that the gap between the sides was rather more emphatic. Although they only lead 1-0 at the break, the 21 shots that Manchester United had against Everton in the first 45 minutes was the most on record in the first half of a Premier League game since Opta started collating such data back in the 2003/04 season.
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While the Blues ‘tightened up’ at the back to a degree after the break and only conceded another goal after captain Seamus Coleman’s individual error, Comparisonator still records Erik ten Hag’s side as having 28 shots in total. Not only was that 11 more than the next best tally in the Premier League across the weekend (Bournemouth had 17 in their 1-0 win at Leicester City) but to put the figure in context, it was almost twice as many as neighbours Manchester City’s 15.07 which is the highest average in the division for the season.
At the other end, Everton themselves had 14 shots to put them joint third for the weekend alongside Brighton & Hove Albion in their 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur but while that number is a big increase on their own average of just 9.23 (the third-lowest in the Premier League), only one of those efforts were on target compared to 12 of United’s – yet another offensive parameter that the Reds Devils topped the division in over the matchday, ahead of both Bournemouth and Manchester City, in their 4-1 win at Southampton, having nine shots on target apiece.
More examples of the way in which Everton allowed United to tear through them are their opponents topping the division over Easter for dribbles (36); successful dribbles (21); touches in the box (42) and successful attacking actions (38), ensuring they also had the highest expected goals figure of 2.98. Dyche acknowledged that Bruno Fernandes had also been able to pull the strings too readily and said: “If people are looking at the quarterback position as I like to call it, and they are ready to unload, the defence has got to be ready for that. But the press is the important part.”
Put bluntly in figures, this was highlighted by United’s 25 key passes dwarfing next best Brighton & Hove Albion’s 14 along with their 18 successful key passes being an incredible 11 more than second placed Chelsea (7) in their 1-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. As the Blues boss alludes, this isn’t just a responsibility for the back four though.
Even without the presence of Casemiro, who dominated the midfield in Everton’s previous two defeats to United this season, the hosts were able to cope far better without their suspended man in the middle than the visitors who were missing Doucoure after his red card against Tottenham Hotspur. Up against the aforementioned Fernandes, goalscorer Scott McTominay and Marcel Sabitzer, Blues pair Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana found themselves outnumbered and overrun.
One Evertonian on Twitter (@knagberi) was particularly blunt with his assessment when he wrote: “Gueye and Onana are miles off it and a Labrador and a bookcase would have done a better job in midfield than they did.” It was a rather surreal analogy but captured the mood of frustration among many beleaguered Blues.
Fortunately for Everton, not all Premier League opponents are quite as fleet-footed as United when it comes to ripping you apart through lightning fast attacks but having initially surprised most observers by not going with his tried and trusted 4-4-2 formation from the start of his Blues reign, Dyche now faces the huge call over whether to quickly write it off as a bad job with this group of players or persist with it as a potentially more positive tactic for what is surely a ‘must-win’ fixture at home to Fulham. He has already made it clear that he won’t chastise players in his goal-shy side from getting into the right areas going forward, dubbing it “the bliss to miss” but at what point to they need to start becoming more potent?
Onana has had a combination of off-target headers or tamely-struck long-range efforts in recent weeks; Gueye blazed over when having both time and space with an enticing chance when the score was goalless against Tottenham Hotspur and Ellis Simms – at the same end of Old Trafford that Tom Davies dallied in last season’s corresponding fixture before squaring to Yerry Mina who scored but was offside – lacked the same kind of conviction he’d shown against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when he rolled a golden opportunity wide when he should have really at least worked David De Gea into a save. For all its faults on this occasion, Everton’s system against United still produced chances but if they’re to avoid what would be the club’s first relegation in 72 years, their players need to start taking them.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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