Everton are seeking January reinforcements following recent injury issues for David Moyes' side.placeholder image
Everton are seeking January reinforcements following recent injury issues for David Moyes' side. | Getty Images
Everton slumped to another home defeat, but David Moyes should have learned something from his opposite number.
The position of full-back has never been more important in football, even if David Moyes has taken a different approach with Everton.
A quick look at the bench for the visit of Man United highlights his current thinking with two right-backs and one left-back not getting stripped for action. That he finished the game with a centre-half at left-back and a midfielder at right-back raises a few questions that Toffees fans have every right to ask.
Everton can learn a valuable lesson from Man United
The irony is, the team that beat Everton 1-0 are the perfect example of how simplifying a game plan is often the most effective approach. As is playing players in their preferred positions. Luke Shaw is no longer a centre-half and Bruno Fernandes is a no.10 rather than being a box-to-box midfielder that has to defend his own box too. Moyes might want to fit as many of his good players as possible into the team, but it can sometimes be counter-productive.
When Everton were chasing the game for the last 20 or so minutes, they had no natural width despite having two 6ft 4inch tall strikers in the box and leaving their centre-halves up after set-pieces too. Wingers need help from their full-backs, they need to build up a partnership. When to overlap, when to underlap. If the winger makes a certain move then the full-back reacts. It is as important as the bond between two centre-halves and is key to the sort of attacking fluency that Everton lack.
What changes does Moyes need to make?
Jarrad Branthwaite is an outstanding player, but he isn’t a left-back. If Moyes wants to play him, go to a back three or drop Michael Keane to the bench. It is the same at right-back too. James Garner has been impressive in the middle of midfield. He has, unquestionably, been better than Tim Iroegbunam and is more than capable of both sides of the role. He can do a job on the flank, however, he isn’t a right-back that has spent years learning the position.
Vitaliy Mykolenko isn’t as good a player as Branthwaite, but he is a better full-back, and it is the same story on the right with Nathan Patterson and Garner, despite Moyes’ previous comments. Knowing the position is as important as being a good player and both have spent their whole career as natural defenders who know when to attack and when to defend. They also play the role as part of a pairing with their winger, rather than as an individual. As shown with Man United, sometimes a manager has to make tough decisions and leave good players out the team, something that Moyes has rarely had to do, until now.
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