Everton’s start to the new campaign did not exactly go off as planned last week, with the side bludgeoned to a 3-0 defeat at home against Brighton & Hove Albion. It’s fair to say that the club’s preseason preparations have been less than optimal, with a number of players either picking up untimely injuries, or yet to return to action after extended layoffs.
Still, the manner of the team’s loss - in kicking off what will be its final season at historic Goodison Park - blunted fan morale somewhat. It is to be hoped that the manager can quickly regain control of the situation and at least enter the international break at the end of the month on a positive note.
Before that, however, the Toffees have to negotiate the small matter of a visit to North London, to face a powerful Tottenham Hotspur side.
Form
Spurs finally waved goodbye to star man Harry Kane a year ago, selling the striker to Bayern Munich for a princely sum, but the club spent big in support of new boss Ange Postecoglou, to the tune of more than €151m net. The Australian brought in a brash, expansive new style, which was much welcomed by fans who’d endured a succession of defence-minded appointments in recent years.
An exciting campaign ended with a late slump — just two wins over teams who’d eventually end up relegated - against five defeats. This loss of form at a crucial point of the season saw the team finish in fifth place, costing them a place in the Champions League.
In the summer, the Londoners saw a number of players depart, either squad rotation types such as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (a free transfer to Marseille) and Emerson Royal (€15m to Milan), or those already away from the club, or peripheral members. All told, Spurs raised more than €50m from outgoings.
Incomings have been exclusively teenagers — with the sole exception being Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, signed for a bumper €64.3m fee. Other significant arrivals are Leeds United’s midfield prodigy Archie Gray (€41.3m), Burnley winger Wilson Odobert (€29.3m) and 18-year-old Swedish attacking midfielder Lucas Bergvall (€10m). The Lilywhites have spent almost €149m on new recruits this term.
Tottenham started the season on Monday night, with an ultimately disappointing 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Leicester City. Utterly dominant - almost casually so - during the opening period, taking the lead in the 29th minute, the visitors allowed the Foxes back in the game via some poor marking of veteran centre forward Jamie Vardy, shortly before the hour mark. They responded poorly to the setback and failed to reestablish any control thereafter.
Style of Play
Postecoglou is not a man to deviate overmuch from his favoured 4-2-3-1 system, which he employed almost without exception throughout last term and unsurprisingly, he utilized it once more to open the new campaign. His side is resolutely committed to playing on the front foot, commanding the ball and attacking directly, with plenty of width.
Against a Leicester side who sat off for much of the first hour, offering very little threat, Spurs essentially camped in their opponent’s half, moving the ball quickly, looking to create overloads — particularly (ominously, for Everton) on their own left flank. Time and again, Son Heung-Min, Destiny Udogie and roving playmaker James Maddison combined to create mismatches, stretching and opening up the home side time and again.
On the right, Pedro Porro provided a super-progressive wide option, the fullback putting Spurs deservedly ahead with a darting run into the box, after another stunning combination move on the opposite flank. Maddison was the orchestrator-in-chief, finding space intelligently and dictating play from between the lines. The former Leicester favourite tortured his old side relentlessly.
The Londoners bossed possession, commanding a 70% share, and bombarded their opponents with cross, firing in 29 and completing eight. The classic Postecoglou high defensive line was much in evidence, helping to pen Leicester deep into their own half. Defensively, Spurs looked surprisingly vulnerable once the hosts began pushing forward and putting them under some pressure, during the final third of the game.
Player Assessment
Maddison was the stand-out player, particularly during the opening half. The attacking midfielder missed out on Gareth Southgate’s squad for the recent European Championship - ostensibly due to a loss of form, following an injury suffered in November - though the England boss often appeared loath to select the 27-year-old. He ended up with four goals and nine assists for the campaign and was in the 99th percentile of players in his position for Shot-Creating Actions per 90 minutes, amongst those operating in top European leagues.
Son is now 32, but shows no signs of decline. The South Korean fired 17 league goals last term, adding ten assists and is as quick and dangerous as ever. His presence operating on the Spurs left will present a major headache for Dyche and whoever is unfortunate enough to get the nod at right back this afternoon, though with Solanke injured, he may be deployed as a centre forward, a role he’s more than comfortable in.
Solution
Everton have been hit by a number of omissions, mostly through injury — though Ashley Young is suspended following the straight red card he received last Saturday. This has seriously tied Dyche’s hands, amazingly leaving him with no natural right backs in the first team squad, with all three unavailable — quite an achievement considering we are barely into the new campaign.
What to do? His options boil down to sticking with a back four, or switching to a three-man defence. In the former case, this probably means shoehorning either unwanted centre half Mason Holgate into a position he has played before, though well only sporadically, or throwing untested academy prospect Roman Dixon in for what would be a debut in senior football. It’s hard to imagine Dyche, with the emphasis he places on experience, choosing to go with the youngster.
The former Burnley boss has fielded a back three on rare occasions, should his hand be forced by injury to key players, and he may choose to go this route again this afternoon. However, with James Tarkowski now a doubt to be fit, Dyche may not have enough reliable centre halves in the side to make this work, unless he fields Vitalii Mykolenko alongside Michael Keane and new signing Jake O’Brien. This would leave Dwight McNeil and probably Jack Harrison both playing out of position, as wing-backs.
With little time to work on a new shape, it’s my view that the manager will elect to stay with his trusted 4-4-1-1 formation, with the only changes to the team that took to the pitch at Goodison being enforced: Holgate at right back and O’Brien for Tarkowski, should the latter be unable to make the starting lineup. A case could be made for the pace of new boys Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom, with Everton playing on the break, but the cautious Dyche will retain McNeil, Harrison and Abdoulaye Doucoure, players who know his system well.
This all points to a classic Dyche road game setup: compact and disciplined, blocking up the centre of the park and forcing Spurs wide, with the intent of occasionally breaking in transition, or winning set-pieces. I fear such opportunities will be few and far between, even if it was encouraging to see today’s hosts look far from invincible against relatively humble opposition on Monday.
The Blues must play error-free football, try to frustrate what is an excellent attacking side and hope to get either a clean-sheet, or somehow find a way to pick up a goal from somewhere, anywhere. The odds don’t look good, but Dyche’s side pulled results out of the bag under adversity last season, and the qualities which enabled those successes are still there, in the squad. But, roared forward by the home support, it’s hard not to see Tottenham emerging with the victory today.
Prediction: Spurs 2-0 Everton