Everton conceded 10 late goals in their last 8 games.
Last in squad rotation and substitutions, but first in total duels.
Defensive breakdown stems from mental and physical burnout.
For most of this season, Evertonians didn’t have any reason to feel particularly nervous during the closing stages of matches.
Through the first 29 games of the campaign, David Moyes’ men boasted an incredibly disciplined late-match defence, conceding just 5 goals from the 76th minute onward across those matches.
But since the end of that game, the supporters have begun to lose that sense of confidence.
Over the course of the last 8 fixtures, Everton’s late resilience has evaporated. The Toffees have shipped a staggering 10 goals in that exact same late-game window—doubling their previous season total in less than a third of the time.
To understand how a once-reliable unit has suddenly become so fragile, you need to look beyond bad luck and examine the physical toll Moyes demands of a small group of players.
The numbers: Everton’s Premier League work rate vs squad rotation
Everton’s dramatic drop-off in defensive discipline during the closing stages of games isn’t a mystery when you look at the underlying metrics. In fact, the data paints a picture of a squad operating under unsustainable physical strain.
Metric Category Statistic / Detail Premier League Ranking
Players Used 22 players 20th (Fewest in league)
Substitutions Made 123 substitutions 20th (Fewest in league)
High-Minutes Players 8 players with 2,500+ minutes played 1st (Most in league)
Duels Contested 4,053 duels 1st (Most in league)
Duels Won 2,070 duels 1st (Most in league)
Defensive Work rate High pressures & pressed sequences 2nd (Highest in league)
David Moyes’ rotation problem: Why the Toffees are overplayed
David Moyes relies on the most heavily restricted squad rotation in top-flight football. Everton sit bottom in the Premier League for both the total number of players used (22) and substitutions made (123). Instead of rotating, Moyes has relied upon a core group of eight players—including Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, Jake O’Brien, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, James Garner, and Iliman Ndiaye—with each member racking up over 2,500 gruelling minutes.
High pressures, low numbers: The physical demand on Moyes’ squad
Yet, despite managing the smallest active pool of players, Moyes asks them to play some of the most physically demanding football in the league. The Toffees lead the Premier League in total duels contested (4,053) and duels won (2,070), while ranking second in overall defensive pressures.
Sunderland warning: Fatigue-induced errors costing Everton points
As Everton’s recent run illustrated, Moyes cannot expect the league’s highest physical output from the league’s smallest group of players without eventually paying a price. Any fan who watched the recent fixture against Sunderland can appreciate that. When the Black Cats scored their third, Everton looked dead on their feet, as a succession of ‘schoolboy’ errors gifted Sunderland the goal.
Mental fatigue and physical exhaustion caused the Toffees’ late-season collapse, not a sudden loss of footballing ability.
If Everton want to avoid these brutal late-game collapses in the future, Moyes must change his heavy reliance on an exhausted starting eleven, starting today against Spurs