Following yesterday’s defeat by Fulham on opening day, Everton manager Sean Dyche has been speaking about his squad and it’s limitations.
The Blues boss has underlined how unbalanced and lacking in certain positions his squad is, and the need to take account of that.
Everton created plenty of chances but couldn’t take them and it might be argued that Dyche’s rigid and cautious tactics didn’t help.
When he took over in January, Dyche inherited a bloated and disjointed first-team squad that was the result of years of failed transfers and a managerial merry-go-round that would make even the most level-headed feel dizzy.
In addition, the club is in a serious financial position as a consequence of that overspending on players and managers as well as Covid restrictions and costs.
This summer has therefore seen Everton let a number of players from the youth setup and first-team squad leave in a bid to reduce costs and free up resources.
As a result of all this the squad that Dyche has at his disposal for this season is still unbalanced and now lacking in both quality and numbers.
As everyone knows the primary area of the team where this problem is evident, is up front.
We have to hope after the evidence again from yesterday’s loss that the Toffees get more strikers in asap.
But, there are other areas of the team that need attention too.
Against Fulham one player who had a particularly torrid time was right-back Nathan Patterson.
The young Scot has had an up and down time since he signed from Rangers in January 2022. Alongside some impressive performances he has at times struggled and suffered from a succession of injuries.
Yesterday, Patterson was turned inside out by the clever and skillfull Willian, as the vastly experienced Brazilian forward produced a fine performance and was for most of the game Fulham’s most threatening player.
He needed help but the player directly in front of him was James Garner who was being asked again to play out of position.
Garner worked hard but he actually probably better suits playing in Patterson’s position as he did successfully for England in the Under-21 Euro Championships.
Full-back is a perfect example of a position where Dyche is facing a problem because he lacks numbers and enough reliable talent.
Patterson started as a result of the continuing injury absence of Seamus Coleman who Dyche has tended to prefer and would almost certainly have picked had he been available.
This meant he played a 38-year-old in Ashely Young at left-back because he can’t be confident of Vitalii Mykolenko’s ability to cut it in the Premier League.
Young performed well and looked very comfortable there where he has after all played many times before.
However, there is a possible solution to these problems and that is a change in formation.
If Dyche moved to a 3-5-2 or something similar he could overcome several problems.
This would for example give Jarrad Branthwaite an opportunity to play on the left of a three-man defence, something I would like to see happen.
Another advantage would be using Patterson (or Garner) and Young as wing-backs, which I think actually better suits them both.
The Scottish international is a very attack-minded player and relishes the chance to get forward at every opportunity. Young too is of course a former England international forward and still offers plenty going forward.
This switch would also help provide more support to Everton’s strikers who usually end up poughing a lonely farrow up front.
While Neal Maupay’s inability to find the back of the net despite numerous chances to do so against Fulham is ultimately inexusable, he was playing on his own without much direct support, something he is certainly not adept at doing.
With two in attack, Dyche could play Arnuat Danjuma behind his main striker whether that is Dominic Calvert-Lewin (assuming he is ever deemed fit enough to play again!) or someone else.
None of these sorts of tactical and formation changes will ultimately overcome a lack of talent and that is still the most critical issue to be resolved.
But, in the short-term it could help the Everton manager to get the most out of the players who are immediately available, which is critical as the need for points now, is pressing.