Marco Silva, Everton’s highly rated young manager, has made significant changes to the
team’s style from last season’s drab tenure under Sam Allardyce.
While the season is still young, the signs are encouraging.
While Silva said in pre-season that he would use a 4-3-3, so far he has used a 4-2-3-1.
This is possibly because he doesn’t have confidence in any of his midfielders to play
as a deep-lying, playmaking 6, or possibly because he values Gylfi Sigurdsson’s ability
to link with the double pivot from a higher position.
This aside, some of the other aspects that Silva highlighted as being key to his coaching
philosophy are already evident in Everton’s play, and, with the signing of Richarlison
from his former club Watford, Silva has strengthened his team’s ability to deliver that philosophy
as well.
[Movement up front]
In attack, Everton’s striker, Cenk Tosun, drops off towards Sigurdsson to draw defenders
forwards, or tries to disrupt their positioning by making runs horizontally across the box.
He’s a physical striker, and creates space with his movement or occupies defenders by
being a handful.
Walcott tends to drop a little deeper to look for the ball on the right, but then breaks
forwards or outwards, looking to cross as a winger.
[PIC 1 and 2]
Richarlison, by contrast, drops inwards or pushes forwards at an angle, either running
off Tosun in towards goal, or driving forwards from a deeper position, again towards goal,
or staying available as a passing option infield.
[PIC 3 and 4]
That’s not to say that the Brazilian cannot act as a wide man, but he tends to look to
involve himself more centrally despite starting higher and wider, while Walcott starts deeper,
but moves wide.
[PIC 5 and 6]
Both these roles afford the full backs room to push up as well, and Everton’s ability
to cross from full back has been a consistent facet of their play; in Seamus Coleman and
Leighton Baines, they have two players who can do this while generally maintaining their
defensive duties.
But it’s the movement of Richarlison and Walcott, more dynamic than the wide players
for Everton last season, that makes this approach tick.
[Pressing]
Silva likes his teams to press, but they tend to press passing lanes, or cover shadow, rather
than press by swarming the man in possession.
When an attacking move breaks down, Sigurdsson will tend to orientate himself to cover a
vertical ball forwards, while the wide players tuck inside to form a spearhead that look
to cover.
If a full back starts to tuck in to offer an option, the Everton wide player will cover
that passing lane, rather than looking to press the player in possession or the potential
receiver; it’s the pass that is being marked, not the man.
[PIC 7 and 8]
If the ball is moved wide, then Everton will press more aggressively, and in this instance
a man or two will go for the player in possession; this only happens, though, when the passing
options have been so narrowed that winning back possession is likely.
Richarlison especially excels at this form of pressing: he is used to Silva’s style
from their time together at Watford anyway, and his natural desire to move infield means
that he’s well positioned to change his position from covering a passing lane to pushing
up towards a man as the ball transitions towards the touchline.
[PIC 9 and 10]
This approach is important because it mitigates against the Everton midfield’s lack of pace
and protects the two men in central midfield; too aggressive a man-orientated press could
leave the team open to attacks through that area as too many players are sucked towards
the ball and don’t have the speed to recover.
[Building from the back]
In Jordan Pickford, Everton have an excellent goalkeeper whose distribution and sweeping
is a real strength.
Pickford is unafraid to make runs outside his box to clear or intercept, and his long
and short kicking from ground and hand is generally very good.
[PIC 11 and 12]
Michael Keane is also a good passer of the ball and, as Idrissa Gueye or Morgan Schneiderlin
drop in between him and Mason Holgate, there are often several options for a pass: back
to Pickford, inside to a dropping midfielder while the other midfielder pushes up, or outside
to the advancing full back.
Holgate’s long range passing has been less successful so far this season but, again,
he often looks to pass inside, as the centre backs move the ball upfield before shifting
it wide.
[PIC 13 and 14]
This patient approach allows the midfield to stagger, so that Sigurdsson and whichever
midfielder has not dropped are able to find space between the opposition lines.
It’s another point of difference to Sam Allardyce’s style, which looked for quicker
and more direct transitions, rather than trying to generate shorter passing opportunities
through rotation of the ball and movement.
Everton look set for a good season under their new manager.