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Everton quarterly report: defensive problems persist part 1

By Matt Townsend

Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Fred (L) vies with Everton's Irish defender Seamus Coleman during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on November 7, 2020. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CLIVE BRUNSKILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Fred (L) vies with Everton's Irish defender Seamus Coleman during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on November 7, 2020. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CLIVE BRUNSKILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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As Everton reach the end of the first quarter of their 2020-21 season with the latest international break, we’re reviewing each part of the team. This time it’s the Blues defence.

The Toffees have had problems with their defence for a long time and successive Everton managers have wrestled with how to find the right quality and balance at the back and cure the team of it’s propensity to ship goals all too freely. So let’s look at the Toffees backline in more detail and how they’ve performed so far this season.

Full-backs

Everton’s full-backs are very much a mixed bag so far this season and there are both positives and negatives to report on.

Coming into this campaign the future of right-back Seamus Coleman was very much in doubt. The Irish international had been a stalwart performer for the Blues for many seasons and certainly represented one of the best bargain buys made by the club in many a year.

But in recent seasons Coleman’s form has dipped and he’s been very inconsistent as several serious, almost career threatening injuries appeared to have taken their toll. In the summer and at 31, it looked as though his best years were very much behind him.

The question was who could take his place if the Toffees wanted to as the club hadn’t signed another right-back in the summer transfer window despite many rumours they would do so?

The obvious candidate was Jonjo Kenny.  The former youth team player had failed to break into the Blues first-team despite a few opportunities to do so and he had gone on loan last season to Germany for some extra game-time.

He performed reasonably well in the Bundesliga in a struggling Schalke 04 side. However, the German league is not the Premier League and there were still doubts about whether he has the experience and ability to step up to the demands of the English top flight. So almost by default Coleman got the nod, although he was after all the Toffees captain too.

At the start of the season and after the arrival of Everton’s new signings, Coleman seemed a totally rejuvenated player and was showing the energy, workrate and commitment of old. In particular he seemed to strike up a good understanding on the right with the Blues most high-profile new addition, James Rodriguez.

Recently though he’s picked up another injury and has struggled to fully recover from it suffering a further setback in training for Ireland’s recent friendly against England at Wembley.

So he is now a doubt for the Toffees next fixture against Fulham on Sunday. The problem of who is to play this position in the next season or two is still very much unresolved.

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On the other flank there is none of the uncertainty over who is the first-choice starter. French international Lucas Digne has been very much the incumbent for the past few seasons since his signing from Barcelona in 2018.

Digne has been in fine form again this season, playing at a consistently high level mixing solid defence with his exceptional creative ability. The question is how long will he hold on if the team around him doesn’t improve markedly.

However, at the end of last season veteran full-back Leighton Baines unexpectedly announced his retirement leaving Everton without a back-up.

The eventual solution to this problem came soon afterwards when the Blues added teenage left-back Neils Nkounkou from Marseille just before the transfer window opened.

The youngster was expected to spend the season in the Under-23’s but he got some early chances in the league cup and impressed so much that he has been promoted to the first-team squad where he’s got some early chances.

Overall then a very mixed assessment with some positives, Digne’s solid and consistent form and continued worries about the immediate further at right-back and who will succeed Coleman.

Overall rating: 7/10

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