The English Premier League: The curious case of Everton Football Club
Things were looking up when Ronald Koeman took over from Roberto Martinez and led the club to a 7th placed finish. Things got even rosier when Everton splashed the cash to sign Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Davy Klassen and a host of others.
It could be said that some of these purchases were paid with the money from Romelu Lukaku’s sale to United. They got Wayne Rooney from the Manchester club and that was a decent signing.
The straw that might have broken the camel’s back was the club’s inability to sign an outright replacement for the Belgian. They bought Sandro Ramirez from Malaga but let’s be honest, he cannot give them 20+ goals a season.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has stood in valiantly, but one doesn’t really want to put so much pressure on a young and inexperienced 20-year-old. Everton’s flirtatious relationship with Olivier Giroud was well carried by the media but it ultimately amounted to nothing.
Koeman’s frustration and desperation showed, and it later led him to give outcast, Oumar Niasse a chance in the team. He took it brilliantly but we all know he isn’t consistent, even at Hull last season.
Towards the end of the window, the club agreed a fee with Swansea for the purchase of Gylfi Sigurdsson. I don’t know if Koeman saw it, but there was already a glaring problem.
Koeman’s difficulty with the players and their positions:
Rooney, Klassen and Sigurdsson are very similar players – no 10’s if you like. It’s really baffling that he decided to get the three of them.
Granted, Rooney’s signing was a no-brainer, and Sigurdsson seemed a priority given the way he pursued him all summer, but the signing of Klassen really wasn’t needed and hasn’t been justified till now.
Koeman mentioned time and time again that he needed a striker. I might not blame him for this deficiency in the end because the transfer officials and scouts should’ve done a better job finding alternatives.
Strikers like Ciro Immobile, Cedric Bakambu, Anthony Modeste and even Bas Dost are capable of filling Lukaku’s boots to an extent and I’m sure some of them would’ve relished the opportunity to play in the Premier League.
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Going into the season, Koeman sometimes played with different midfields comprising of Gueye, Schneiderlin, Klassen, Rooney and Sigurdsson. What do you realize from this? They had no width! I did not even mention Nikola Vlašić who was signed from Hajduk Split.
These players don’t stay on the wings for so long which then makes Everton’s midfield so narrow and also, devoid of the injection of pace. Players like Kevin Mirallas, Ademola Lookman and Aaron Lennon haven’t been given opportunities to stake their claim in the team and they could’ve offered that width.
Under Koeman, Everton looked like they lacked an identity. One didn’t know if they were a possession, counter attacking, high pressing or long ball playing side. It always seemed like the manager just bundled an eleven onto the pitch hoping for the best.
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The way forward for Everton:
We don’t know yet who will take the job, but all we know is that the person has a real job on his hands. The recent loss against Leicester City further buttresses my point: Everton need to find an identity.
They could go back to the basics. An orthodox 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 is a good option with Mirallas given an opportunity to play on the left wing.
I know it sounds crazy but Lennon should be given an opportunity too. Or if the club is uncomfortable with that, young Lookman is there. This should give the midfield more pace, directness and width going forward.
Everton has missed Yannick Bolasie and he’d do well in returning fast because he offers something different to what they have at the moment. However, they cannot rush him due to the seriousness of the injury he sustained but they’d be hoping he comes back soon.
The decision to try and pack all the summer signings into the starting eleven hasn’t worked by a mile. Isn’t it time to try something different? What more could go wrong?