Sheffield Utd 0 Everton 1: Blues avoid getting the chop

I didn’t expect that but Everton managed to find some spirit and a bit of quality too and came away with a much needed 0-1 win at Sheffield United last night.

My match preview had finished with a prediction that Everton would in all likelihood be defeated at Brammel Lane, but they weren’t and in fact claimed their first three points since beating Leicester City at Goodison Park.

This game was an important one not because the Toffees were playing for anything, except the proverbial pride, but to show that the messages coming from fans and the manager loud and clear that performances were not good enough, were being heeded by the players.

A number of these players are playing for their futures at Everton. That didn’t seem to matter to some of them, at least if their recent performances were anything to go by.

Well maybe the message has finally sunk in as several of the players most under scrutiny played better than they have for quite a while. The performance overall was much better with more effort and energy showed all round.

So lets look at the team that Carlo Ancelotti picked and how he set them up to play. The manager went with a side that played in a sort of flexible 4-2-3-1 or even 4-3-3 formation for the first time since he took over.

Reverting back to predecessor Marco Silva’s preferred system was an interesting move. In some ways it is an admission that maybe he doesn’t yet have the players to make his favoured 4-4-2 work properly.

Without good quality wide players who can both attack and defend on the flanks and the right balance in central midfield, it’s difficult to play 4-4-2 effectively.

Ancelotti clearly doesn’t have those players. He’s repeatedly tried different combinations and with rare exceptions it hasn’t really worked, at least not with any consistency anyway.

So he went back to Silva’s approach last night playing Andre Gomes and Tom Davies a little deeper with a three of Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Theo Walcott behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Gomes has always looked better in a central two when he can play deeper and direct play as long as he has a player with enough energy and work rate alongside him. Obviously when Idrissa Gueye was that player, the two complimented each other and that formation actually worked well.

Davies isn’t Gana, but he had a better game than he has for a while alongside Gomes, showing a willingness to work hard although his passing was still wayward at times.

Richarlison went back to operating wide, generally as he did under Silva, and although he was a bit anonymous in what was generally a very uneventful first half, he came into the game much more after halftime.

His goal, which in the end won the game, was from a set-piece delivered by Sigurdsson. The Icelander has also always looked more comfortable playing as a more advanced number 10-type, like he did yesterday, rather than as an orthodox central midfielder.

I’ve said previously that I didn’t want to see him playing for Everton again, but to give him his due he had his best game for a long time.

Anyway it was his ball that Richarlison met firmly with his head to slot home his 15th goal of the season. This is a remarkable tally in a team that has been so poor, has struggled so much and has effectively had three separate managers in one season.

I wrote earlier that I thought the Brazilian would be crucial for Everton’s season, and so it has proved. Just imagine what the Brazilian could do if he had consistently effective support and enough chances created for him?

I actually think he is making more and more of a case for playing as the central forward again. It’s something that I always felt he could do long-term. But his inexperience and the team’s need for width, meant that circumstances contrived against it and while he had a few spells up front, he has generally played wide or more recently, off another forward, Calvert-Lewin.

However, this season Richarlison has come into his own as a goalscorer, becoming the Blues most potent goal threat while also showing his continued willingness to work hard for the team.

He’s always had pace, strength and the ability to run with the ball and take on defenders, but he’s also added real power in the air too, becoming a genuine all-round goal threat.

Going forward I think Richarlison could play centrally. It would need to be in a fluid forward thee or perhaps up front on his own in a similar formation to last night’s, as long as he had enough support to join him and also was free to drop deeper or go wide.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower

This is the problem with a 4-2-3-1. Sometimes the lone striker can become isolated and this is something that has plagued Calvert-Lewin when he has been that lone front man. Again last night he struggled to get into the match.

But Calvert-Lewin is a different type of forward. He does work hard to close down defenders and will go wide or drop deeper, but he is a more orthodox centre-forward who ideally wants to play in or around the box and get on the end of chances created. That’s why he has done so much better with a partner alongside him in a 4-4-2.

For me though, I think that ideally Everton need to play a more flexible and fluid way and I feel that Richarlison could and should become the Blues main striker in that formation.

Finally, one other important thing that emerged from yesterday’s win was the continued excellence of young centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite. He had a fine game alongside Micheal Keane and they very effectively snuffed out United’s attacking threat.

Branthwaite’s continued development gives the Toffees another good young player to join the likes of Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Mason Holgate and Anthony Gordon for the manager to build around next season.

Sheffield Utd 0 Everton 1: Blues avoid the chop

By Matt Townsend | Jul 21, 2020

I didn’t expect that but Everton managed to find some spirit and a bit of quality too and came away with a much needed 0-1 win at Sheffield United last night.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower