Rafa's return to basics takes Everton team back to it's past

Yesterday’s 3-1 win over Southampton got Everton off to an ideal start in what still promises to be another long and demanding Premier League campaign.

One of the things that was so clear and remarked upon by commentators was the way Everton set out to play against the Saints with plenty of width and quick, direct football.

It was in fact a sort of throwback to past times and in some moments reminded me of those days when the Toffees were a genuine force to be reckoned with.

I mentioned in my match review that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s diving header for the goal that sealed the points was quite a bit like Andy Gray in his mid-eighties pomp and there were other elements of the performance yesterday that reminded me of that great era.

Now before anyone states the obvious, I’m not suggsting this current team is on a par with that great side that won two league championships, the FA and European Cup-Winners-Cup or that’s it’s about to go on and replicate their acheivements!

But, it was a return to basics from the Blues and that not only ultimately brought a winning result in the end, it also enthused and energised the fans inside Goodison Park. And making the Grand Old Lady a fortress again could prove crucial to how this season turns out.

For too long it seems Everton have been playing football that has often failed to get the fans behind the team. The Toffees have been experimenting under different managers with styles and approaches that don’t seem to really suit the team or the club’s culture.

Ever since the David Moyes era came to an end (although that was not a style of football that excited and was often very defensive) the club have had foreign coaches, except when Sam Allardyce and Duncan Ferguson temporarily took charge of the team.

This is significant because it represented a break from the past and the Toffees had British managers for longer than nearly any other English club.

After Moyes under their first overseas coach Roberto Martinez, Everton attempted to play a more continental type of possesion, passing football, then when he was replaced by Ronald Koeman the side switched to a counter-attacking style more akin to the traditions of Italian football.

The Dutchman’s eventual successor Marco Silva tried to find a better balance between Martinez’s and Koeman’s approaches but again he was trying to play football in an intricate European style with a team that often lacked energy and drive and it was one his players seemed to struggle at times to understand and implement properly.

Finally after he was sacked in December 2019 Carlo Ancelotti came in. There was huge hope among most Blues fans that finally a coach had arrived at the club with the experience and track record to get it right.

However, despite his bringing in some excellent new players in James Rodriguez, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure and a really bright start that represented the best opening to a league season for over a hundred years, those hopes faded.

When he lost his key attacking signing Rodriguez to injury, Ancelotti reverted to a cautious defensive style particularly away from home.

This worked sometimes but it was found out too often at Goodison and the team failed badly to fulfill that early season promise.

Now Ancelotti is gone, Rafa Benitez is in charge and the Toffees are trying again to re-build and compete successfully under the 61-year-old Spaniard.

One of the things that many Evertonians have perhaps felt recently is that the team needs to get back to the club’s great traditions of playing with pace and width and a fast high-tempo game with a strong, direct centre-forward leading the line.

Think of the great Everton teams in history like the sides in the twenties and thirties that had the legendary Dixie Dean and then another great England international centre-forward Tommy Lawton leading the line.

Then in the sixties came a local lad Joe Royle wearing the famous number nine shirt in the outstanding side that won the 1969-70 league championship and was expected to go on to great things in the seventies.

Although the Blues didn’t manage to win anything else in that ten years and watched their neighbours begin to dominate football, later in the decade Gordon Lee built a team around the goalscoring excellence of Bob Latchford and nearly won the league cup as well as finishing in the top three in Division One.

His teams played with several old-fashioned wingers such as Ronny Goodlass and Dave Thomas to provide Latchford with the ammunition he needed.

And so we come to that eighties side which revived the club’s status and fortunes after so long in the shadow of Liverpool.

When Howard Kendall arrived in 1981 there was a talented but as yet still inconsistent young Scottish centre-forward Graeme Sharp in the reserves.

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Eventually Sharp became the main centre- forward (although Andy Gray also played his part) in Kendall’s great sides that won the 1985 and 87 titles and provided the only consistent challenge to Liverpool in the eighties.

Finally, in the next decade we had the cameo of another Scot Duncan Ferguson who fleetingly at times revived memories of those great teams with a powerfully dominant centre-foreward.

Now, Benitez has another English striker to build his attack around in Calvert-Lewin. Just like all those great names from the past Calvert-Lewin is superb in the air and thrives on good quality crosses and balls into the penalty area.

The Spanish coach although from overseas orignally of course, is steeped in the traditions of English football and in a way it’s almost like the return of a domestic manager to the Everton dugout.

And Benitez has it seems decided to go back to basics. He’s getting the Toffees organised defensively and hopefully concentrating better (and generally they were yesterday apart from Micheal Keane’s error) while also playing to a higher tempo in attack than in the recent past and getting the ball out wide as quickly and as often as possible to supply his centre-forward.

Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend, Lucas Digne, Richarlison and even Alex Iwobi were always looking to get in the right position and fire in good quality crosses. And yesterday it worked.

We shall see if this approach can indeed get the best out of Calvert-Lewin and others and provide a more natural and succesful way of playing. And one that can perhaps resonate better with the club’s traditions and win over supporters who have become a little alienated by some of these players and their past efforts.

Rafa’s return to basics takes Everton back to past

By Matt Townsend | Aug 15, 2021

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