Everton: What are the problems?

This time last year, Evertonians would’ve been proud to see the club sitting in 6^th position, 5 points in front of Manchester United and 9 points away from Arsenal who where sitting on top of the table. A year later, and things have completely changed (badly). Now Everton are 12^th in the table, just won five league matches all season and are no-where near Manchester United or Arsenal. So what has gone wrong? Is it the management? Are the players really that bothered? Here are some stats showing Everton’s horrendous season and the problems the fans face for the next half of the campaign.

Problem #1: The Defenders

Key Stat: Everton have made the most defensive errors (23) in Europe’s top 5 leagues and have the made the most defensive errors leading to a goal (11) is well.

The defense have started to show their age, Sylvain Distin (37) and Phil Jagielka (32) especially. The defenders have been all over the place this season, lacking concentration and have relied on players such as Muhamed Besic and James McCarthy throughout the league campaign. Last season (at this moment last year) Everton had lost the least amount of games, conceded the least amount of goals, had kept the most clean sheets and had the second highest save percentage in the Premier League. However (prior to last match), Everton have kept the least amount of clean sheets, had the worst save percentage and made the least amount of tackles and interceptions in the league.

Everton have been known for having a solid defence, especially under David Moyes. The partnership between Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin has been a solid one for the last few seasons, but their ages are starting to show. John Stones has been crucial for the Everton side, making crucial tackles and is the most reliable in the air in the current Everton team. If he stays fit for the rest of the season, then we will concede lesser goals.

It is also important that we bring somebody else into the team. Antolin Alcaraz is too old and there is no other back up in the team. It may also be a risk for Roberto Martinez to bring somebody from the youth academy, although Tyias Browning has deserved more of a chance in the line-up. The defense is a problem that needs to be sorted as soon as possible.

Problem #2: No Plan B

Key Stat: Everton have dropped 15 points in the Barclays Premier League this season, they only dropped 10 points from the whole of last campaign (scoring first goal).

Certainly one of the most frustrating situations in football is seeing your club lose points after taking the lead, something Everton supporters have seen to many times this campaign. In defeats to Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, Everton took the lead within the first 30 minutes, but they concede once and everything falls apart. The team panics instantly. The shot zones back this. 43% of Everton’s shots are inside the 18-yard box, only Tottenham have a lower percentage (42%). Everton also have the highest percentage (53%) of shots that are outside the penalty box in the Premier League.

What concerns me the most, however, is Roberto Martinez’s use of substitutions. Substitutions are used to make an impact on the game, but the Everton boss doesn’t use them enough, and most of the time his selection of subs are poor. The last time Everton made three substitutions in the same match was against Stoke City, a month ago, and two where made because of injuries. Rather than stick to the same style of play and hope for the best, Roberto Martinez needs to makes changes quickly and use subs more effectively.

Problem #3: Lack of creativity

Key Stat: Everton had created 240 chances this time last season; they’ve only created 203 chances his campaign.

The Toffees severely lack in creativity in the midfield and as a team. Leighton Baines has been the player who has created the most in the Everton side, making 39 chances in the Everton side. However, he is the only Everton player who is in the top 50 list of the players who have created the most chances in the Premier League. Whether it is due to other teams pressure or our own faults is questionable.

Here is the positioning of our chances created in a map. As you can see, only 39.4% is created in the middle third of the pitch (number 10 role). Also, no Everton central midfielder has created over 20 chances this season – Ross Barkley with the most, creating 17 chances in 15 appearances. The Blues need to bring in somebody in the transfer window to push the creativity and will help Romelu Lukaku score more goals this season. The reason why Everton fans are getting so frustrated with Lukaku is because there is no creativity. Look at players such as Diego Costa, for example. He has players such as Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard who create many chances for him to score, nobody has that at Everton. The more creativity, the more chances, the more goals.

Problem #4: Use of Possession

Key Stat: Everton are thirteenth in the teams with the most average possession (54%) in Europe’s Top 5 leagues, they’re equal to the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea and have had more possession this campaign than Atletico Madrid and Broussia Dortmund.

This links perfectly with the lack of creativity and why it’s needed. Only four times in the Barclays Premier League this season, have Everton had lesser possession than the opposition. In fact, Everton have had the exact same amount of possession (average) as they did last season (54%).

So why have Everton created lesser chances?

There is no doubt that having more possession should put you in the driving seat, 78% of teams that have more possession than the opposition team will go on and win the game, unless your Everton FC that is. Going back to the match versus West Brom, Everton had 69% possession throughout the whole match. However, Everton had just 4 shots on target that game. It was like watching Barcelona pass the ball around the back for 90 minutes with no end product.

Roberto Martinez loves to watch his side hold possession and pass around the back until there is a chance for an attack. The only match I can recall that Everton have done this is the match against Aston Villa. We need to use the possession to our advantage.

Problem #5: Passing

Key Stat: Everton are ninth in the list of the amount of successful passes in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues (making 9,518 passes). That’s more than teams such as Juventus, Real Madrid and Lyon.

Looking at that stat, you would be wondering, “Why is it a problem?” The passing is slow and around the back all the time. The passing tempo is the fourth slowest in the league and although it impresses the statistics at the end of each match, the passing is meaningless judging the amount of chances we have created in 9,518 successful passes.

Another problem is the amount of passes going backwards. To the right is a pie chart of the percentage of passes going backwards rather than forwards. As you can see 38.1% (4,260 passes) have gone backwards. One of the highest in the league.

Although Roberto Martinez loves to keep his possession stats high, at least do something with the possession that impresses the supporters.

Conclusion

It’s been a rocky campaign for Everton. There hasn’t been a period of time where supporters have been comfortable and I’ve never felt more disappointed in an Everton team in a long time. It’s clear that Roberto Martinez needs to make changes, whether it’s in the market or behind the scenes. Something clearly needs to be done to make Everton fans feel happy again.