Everton possession game to help defence

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Andre Gomez of Everton and James McCarthy of Crystal Palace in action during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Everton at Selhurst Park on September 26, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Andre Gomez of Everton and James McCarthy of Crystal Palace in action during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Everton at Selhurst Park on September 26, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
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Despite winning 2-1 at Crystal Palace yesterday, Everton were a little lucky as their winner came from a controversial penalty decision and again they conceded a goal from a set-piece.

While Everton certainly rode their luck against Palace, who can perhaps feel a little unlucky at the penalty decision, it’s a novel feeling for once to have the breaks going for the Blues instead of the other way around.

However, the Toffees did concede another goal that might have been preventable. According to the BBC match report, since the start of the 2019-20 season, Everton have let in more set-piece goals than any other Premier League team. That’s not a healthy statistic.

While you can argue about whether Micheal Keane should have done more to stop the header that brought Palace their equaliser, the Blues do need to significantly improve their defending at free-kicks, corners and set plays.

This is a problem that has dogged the team for a long time now and needs to be sorted out. Last season, on a rough average most Premier League teams scored from at least 10 or more set-pieces so this is still a significant source of goals. Cutting out that source as much as possible would probably gain nearly another dozen points or so.

Many times I’ve mentioned my concerns about whether Yerry Mina and Keane can play together as a pair.  Again yesterday, while Mina had a better game than against West Brom – although he gave away a few silly fouls – Keane had a slightly less assured game at Palace.

Both are usually very strong in the air but there just seem to be times at set plays when they get their positioning wrong or have a momentary lapse of concentration and it often leads to a goal.

I think it is imperative to get another quality central defender in as soon as possible to provide competition and an alternative to one or other. I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands are working hard on that.

One trend in Everotn’s play, which might help improve the defensive solidity of the team is the much improved ability of the midfield to control possession of the ball and dictate the pace and tempo of the game.

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One of many things the Toffees have been very poor at in the past, is keeping hold of the ball for a long time. Not doing this can often lead to your team and your defenders being put under a lot more pressure as the opposition can keep attacking.

Possession isn’t the be-all and end-all of football and sometimes playing a more counter-attacking game can work well as Ancelotti’s Everton have shown occasionally.

This season though, with the arrival of Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez, the Blues are much more comfortable and assured in possession and have become very adapt at keeping it for long periods.

This helps to strengthen the team’s ability to create more chances themselves but it also takes the sting out of the opposition’s efforts.

Doing so can help shield a still erratic and occasionally unreliable backline and goalkeeper from facing too much pressure. And that is no bad thing.