Key to Everton improvement is solving right side of the team

After the frustration of that costly draw on Monday night one key to substantially improving this Everton side is to sort out the right wing of the team.

This area of the Everton side has been a problem for a long time ever since Seamus Coleman first got seriously hurt and has then struggled to recover his fitness and form ever since.

The Toffees haven’t found another right-back good enough to replace him long-term with various players being linked to the club and a youngster, Jonjo Kenny, not convincing that he is good enough to play in the Premier League.

On Monday night the right hand side of the team was a key area that in combination with James Rodriguez provided the most consistently productive attacking play.

Coleman himself had a superb game one of his best since the first month of the season. He was an outlet on the right providing that natural balance and was involved in the move which eventually produced the Blues goal scored by Rodriguez.

When Carlo Ancelotti took Coleman off along with his Colombian star, he hugely weakened the attacking threat Everton possessed and enabled Crystal Palace to gain the initiative and ultimately find an equaliser following their own attacking substitutions.

I have to admit to feeling increasing doubts about Ancelotti’s team selections and tactical decisions and his substitutions on Monday night were perplexing to say the least.

Obviously being defensively solid is very important and no team wins trophies if they can’t defend consistently well. But it’s also crucial not to adopt too defensive a posture – espcially when you’re on top in a match you have to win – and to find the right balance, grafting attacking flair onto that solid base.

Anyway, that aside it seems clear that Everton must prioritise sorting out that right side of the team and improve the attacking threat and balance of the side overall.

When the team has that balance with a genuine outlet on the right side it prevents opposing sides from simply shutting down Rodriguez and Lucas Digne who are otherwise Everton’s only real creative threats.

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There are a wide variety of possible players to consider for this area, a number of which the Blues have been linked with repeatedly.

One player not linked with the Toffees who I like and I think would be ideal for this wide right-wing/wing-back type role, is Domenico Berardi.

The Italian is an excellent left-footed attacking player who makes and scores goals and who is pretty solid defensively too. He seems to go under the radar a bit but he’s also a very consistent and productive player.

He’s a good age and I think that he might also be available for a lower fee than some of the others being mentioned in the endless transfer rumour-mill, although transfermarkt.co.uk quote his value at around £27 million.

Still I don’t think that’s over-the-top for a footballer of his quality in today’s market. He’s also not playing in a Champions League side and a chance to push for that and trophies under a decorated Italian manager in the Premier League might prove a tempting one..?

With the emergence of Ben Godfrey the Toffees can adopt a back three with him and Holgate either side of perhaps Yerry Mina, Micheal Keane or another centre-back, if the club do indeed invest in one this summer. Alternatively the fit again Jean-Philippe Gbamin could play there too.

Then Digne and a new right-sided attacking player (like Berardi) could provide that natural width and the creative outlets needed in those positions and Everton would be able to mix and match the midfield and forward combinations.

If the club can get this right I think it will make a huge difference next season and give the consistent balance that has too often been missing from the team this term.