From right-wing tactical imbalances to Thierno Barry’s crucial evolution, discover the key tactical shifts and player developments shaping David Moyes’ squad ahead of the Premier League restart.
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I’ve watched all of Everton’s pre-season games so far, and there’a few things I’ve noticed.
It’s been a fairly underwhelming pre-season in terms of results, but that’s not something to be worried about. Everton are starting to test themselves against stronger opposition towards the end of pre-season, and that’s when we should start to see a more positive trend in terms of performance levels.
Players are starting to return to action, with Hayden Hackney now involved and Iliman Ndiaye back in training this week.
The games are getting tougher, and hopefully we can quickly bed in some new signings ahead of the return of Premier League action.
There have been some positives and negatives to pre-season so far, and here are some of the things I’ve noticed over the last few weeks.
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Right-wing struggles
One think we’ve seen during pre-season, and it was pretty evident last season, is the struggles we have at right-wing. It’s something I’ve mentioned many times before, but the lack of attacking impetus and width from a right-back hampers the ability of the right-sided attacker to create space and overloads.
When Iliman Ndiaye was playing on the right, he struggled at times, but his elite-level dribbling ability got him out of difficult situations. Being 2vs1 in the opposition's favour doesn’t bother him, but there’s no doubt we could have seen more from him with an attacking full-back.
Another big issue is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. He spends way too much time drifting to the left-hand side, which is beneficial in that area of the pitch, but it hampers us down the right. This leads to us becoming too predictable, leaving the right side isolated.
If Everton had an attacking right-back, Dewsbury-Hall’s positioning wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but it is at the moment. Hopefully, with a new right-back arriving, it will become less of a problem.
Not a dig at Dewsbury-Hall, by the way, that’s simply his profile.
Thierno Barry improvement
Not everyone will agree with this, but I’ve seen a lot of improvement from Thierno Barry. Goal against Dundee due to his pressing, made a fantastic assist after some persistent work in the middle of the park against Hamburg, and had an unfortunate disallowed goal against Bolton.
This is going to be a year about him, positively or negatively. It’s the year we find out he was worth the investment and is our number nine for the future, or at the end of the season we can confirm that it’s not going to work.
A huge year for him. Last season, it was clear he was playing with a shoulder issue. Hopefully he’s now over that, and he can begin to flourish. Time for Evertonians to get behind him, and we can make a proper judgement after two full seasons in the Premier League for the young lad.
Moyes open to adapting?
Maybe a stretch, this, but we’ve seen a slight openness that David Moyes is looking to adapt.
We’ve seen Moyes deploy a back five as a test during pre-season, when it wasn’t 100% necessary. By that I mean, he wasn’t forced into it due to selection issues, it was a clear decision to test something out.
We’ve also seen Merlin Rohl at right-back, Tyrique George at centre-forward, strong minutes for Adam Aznou.
As I said, maybe a stretch, and the true ‘openness’ will be discovered when the Premier League returns.
Hackney deeper
Moyes has shown a willingness to give Hayden Hackney a deeper role.
There are question marks around Hackney’s suitability to a midfield two, but Moyes has looked to try him there rather than deploy him as a number 10.
In reality, Hackney’s best position is probably in a midfield three, allowing him to drift out wide, have freedom to drive forward from deep, but also drop in to receive the ball.
A 4-3-3 could suit Everton, and it could get the best out of Hackney, but Moyes is clearly trying to figure out if he can play that deeper role in a two.