It was a bad night for James Tarkowski and Michael Keane on Monday as Everton suffered another defeat on Merseyside.
The pair of England internationals were badly caught out as Benjamin Sesko slotted beyond Jordan Pickford to fire Manchester United to a 1-0 win, once again being exposed by their lack of pace.
Tarkowski was even stood beside Sesko in the final third when Matheus Cunha launched the attack, but simply could not keep up with the Slovenian.
As you can see in the footage above, it was not even a set-piece situation which caused James Tarkowski to be that high up the pitch. It is more down to the fact Everton are expected to be on the front foot at home, rather than sit deep and soak up pressure.
The Everton No.5 and Michael Keane have never exactly been rapid, but a change to the size of the pitch at the Hill Dickinson Stadium could be making them look slower than ever.
What would your message to David Moyes be after the loss to United? 😡
He cannot find the answer at the Hill Dickinson…
David Moyes reacts during Burnley vs Everton at Turf Moor.
Credit: Getty Images/Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport
David Moyes must ask Everton to reinstall 100mx68m pitch this summer or he needs to drop James Tarkowski and Michael Keane
At Goodison Park, Everton had a compact 100mx68m pitch, which made less space for opponents to run in behind the defence.
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However, the Hill Dickinson Stadium possesses a 105mx68m pitch, according to the BBC.
It doesn’t sound like a great deal of difference, but Everton are yet to win this season when Tarkowski and Keane have started in central defence, which supports our theory.
It also doesn’t help that David Moyes lacks a rapid full-back, flittering between Vitalii Mykolenko and Jarrad Branthwaite at left-back, while Jake O’Brien has regularly played on the right.
A slow defence being placed on a larger pitch is a recipe for disaster – it is therefore no surprise that Everton have only won five out of 16 games at the Hill Dickinson Stadium so far.
Fulham still use a 100mx65m pitch – while the field at Stamford Bridge is also smaller than 105mx68m – so we see no reason why Everton cannot change this.
3-4-2-1 system is the answer for Everton due to larger pitch and slow backline
Moyes interestingly trialled a 3-4-2-1 formation in the second half of the recent 1-1 draw against Leeds.
Whilst Leeds are battling relegation and are not amongst the fiercest opponents in the division – with all due respect – the tactical tweak worked well.
Everton appeared to be covering more of the pitch, and not only found an equaliser, but came close to winning as Idrissa Gueye hit the crossbar.
Should David Moyes play with a back three and wing-backs more regularly for Everton?
Here's an XI the manager could go with after the switch-up vs Leeds… 🤔
A custom graphic showing Everton in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Credit: GRV Media
The use of three central defenders and wing-backs seemed to help cover up the lack of speed in Everton’s defence, so if the size of the pitch cannot be changed, Moyes should seriously consider implementing this shape on a permanent basis.
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