Everton's Full-Backs Moving Inside Is Making A Difference
Everton’s use of full-backs moving inside is creating more space for wide players and opening central gaps. There are also encouraging individual signs, with Tyler compared to Trevor Steven’s early pathway.
Yesterday was another good performance from Everton. One of the biggest changes helping us further up the pitch is the instruction for the left and right-backs to move inside the wingers, which draws defenders away and gives the wide players more room. It’s even helped Myko at LB to look more attacking.
Last season, we were easier to defend against because we kept asking the full-backs to overlap. Opposition teams could double up on our wingers, show them inside, and keep the danger in areas that were easier to protect. This season, with the full-backs moving inside, the winger often has only one defender to beat. If the opposition tries to stop that, they have to pull another player out of the middle, which creates gaps elsewhere.
This has freed up Tyler, George and Ndiaye, who all look much more effective. It has also given KDH and Armstrong pockets to run into when gaps open in the middle. We saw that for George’s goal against Newcastle, when Armstrong drove into the box. He had made that run a couple of times before, but we had failed to spot it.
One great example of the benefit this brings was Aznou’s run inside in the second half yesterday, when he picked the ball up from George and put a great ball across the face of goal.
It also helps having Rohl in the RB slot, although I would still rather see a natural attacking right-back there. He gives the right winger far more support and moves the ball forward more often, instead of constantly recycling possession between the goalkeeper and centre-backs.
I am genuinely looking forward to seeing how this progresses next season. We will have to be adaptable, but this team feels like it has moved on tactically from the last few years, with some clear attacking pathways being developed.
A note on Dibbling, who, for me, along with Barry, Armstrong and George, has made huge progress during the off-season and looks more first-team ready than last year.
Tyler’s pre-season feels like a real opportunity to follow the pathway of Trevor Steven, which I’ve mentioned before.
At the legends event, Trevor said he arrived at 19, struggled to settle, played badly and was dropped. Howard told him he would not play again until the following season, but he would still train and travel with the first team so he could get used to the lads and the demands around him.
The next season, Howard told him he had to take his opportunity. Trevor did not set the world alight straight away, but after a few games he became more comfortable, kept his place and improved as the season went on. That is the encouraging parallel with Tyler: after a difficult spell, he has clearly made the most of pre-season. The challenge now is to do it week in, week out, but I’ll be backing him because he has looked better with every minute.
Anyway, onwards and upwards (hopefully!).
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