Everton 1-0 Brentford: Three Takeaways | Blues Storm Over the Finish Line

30/04/2024 13:49

The team stepped up to the challenge in a turbulent season full of unprecedented obstacles

Dyche Gets His Tactics Right

Going into this game, there was a slight concern that the team may fail to get anywhere near to the level that they had attained a few days earlier, when winning the first Goodison Park derby against Liverpool in 14 years. To a degree, a drop off could be understandable, as capitalizing on a strong result has proven elusive for recent Everton sides, which has made it difficult to maintain any form of consistency. This something that badly needed to change, so the team going out and winning pretty comfortably against Brentford was a good thing to see.

The Toffees did not emerge from the dressing room with the same sort of agency as was so evident on Wednesday. Whether this was a knock-on effect from the Herculean efforts that almost the same group of players had put forth a mere three days earlier, or due to differing tactics is difficult to assess for sure. Certainly, the opening third or so of the Brentford match was low key - almost sleepy - by contrast with Everton's win over the Reds.

The visitors had dominated possession in their two previous outings against Sean Dyche's Blues and it looked like playing out this way again, with the Bees controlling 68.8% of the ball in the first 25 minutes, albeit rarely penetrating Everton territory. Thomas Frank's game plan appeared to be to attempt to suck the hosts forward, with the intent of playing balls over the top of their defence and into wide areas. Dyche seemed to be well aware of this, so the two sides engaged in a sort of "phony war", with the Toffees sitting off and only pressing in the middle third.

Everton were playing a lot of long balls, which the West Londoners were dealing with comfortably and the pattern of play was only broken as the opening period progressed towards the half hour mark. The hosts moved away from the route one approach they'd embraced to that point, instead looking to get on the ball more in order to try to work openings in the Brentford defence. This shift brought benefits, as from the 28th minute until the end of the period, the hosts outshot Brentford by eleven to one, generating an xG (Expected Goals) statistic of 0.61.

The team continued in the same vein after the restart. From the 25th minute Everton generally kept the ball on the grass and tried to play more football than is usually the case and it brought dividends with Idrissa Gueye ending the stalemate by bagging his second goal in as many games with a quality close-range finish on the hour mark. After taking the lead, the Toffees sat back deeper and played on the counter, seeing the game out quite comfortably as Brentford huffed and puffed, dominating possession but failing to offer much of a threat.

This was a promising outing for the Blues, with Dyche showing more adaptability that has been apparent throughout his time at the Merseyside club, in finding a way to break down a more defensive opponent. This is something that has plagued multiple Everton sides for years - even during Carlo Ancelotti's days - so I was encouraged by what I saw from the manager here.

The Significance of It All

The club is now safe from relegation, with three games remaining on the schedule, no less. This is quite an achievement by both players and manager, given the relative weakness of Everton's squad, which has seen important players depart over the past few years. Moreover, considering that they'd actually earned 44 points from their endeavour on the pitch — not that the official league table shows that.

Incompetence amongst those entrusted with running the club's affairs - and in particular, its finances - caused it to fall foul of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules, resulting in two rounds of penalties to be applied during the campaign, costing the Blues eight points. That the league had asked for as many as 17 points to be deducted beggars belief and demonstrates the arbitrariness and chaotic nature of the current financial regulatory system, which will soon be replaced in any case.

The league's approach to punishing violators of its regulations has shown in to be at best inconsistent and at worse, vindictive. However, whatever the merits of the current system (and they appear to be few), the clubs voted for its establishment and Everton did breach it — in all likelihood due to carelessness, poor strategizing and being guilty of making a whole lot of false assumptions at various stages in the process. Those entrusted with safeguarding the present and future of the club have let it - as a cultural, sporting institution - and its many fans, local and otherwise, down.

Dyche was parachuted into his role 15 months ago with the task of retrieving a situation which had spiralled dangerously under his predecessor, Frank Lampard and he just about accomplished that. This season, the manager would have hoped to make progress, despite a hobbled ability to bring in additions to the playing squad and he's done that, too. To guide this team to safety despite operating under a points penalty for much of the campaign is a performance that does him much credit.

Kudos too goes to the players themselves, for fighting hard throughout the season under tough, unpredictable circumstances.

Random Observations

With his appearances to date this season fleeting, I was intrigued to see Youssef Chermiti lead the line at the weekend. The youngster impressed, showing a good combination of attributes and looked to be a surprisingly well-rounded player, considering his lack of experience. The youngster showed variety in his game, dropping in to link up play, making intelligent runs into space and off the shoulder of the last defender.

The Portuguese has quickness, a good first touch, worked hard, lasted the pace well and and the 19-year-old will add physical strength over the next couple of years. I was pleased with the club going after him last summer, as I felt he was a genuine prospect and saw nothing on Saturday to disavow me of that impression. With the club now safe, this could be a good opportunity to start Chermiti in the three games left, in order to aid his development.

Ashley Young has caught a lot of criticism from Blues fans during the season, but he added to his appearance in the derby, as a halftime substitute, with another strong effort here in a start at left back. The veteran won five attempted tackles, 60% of his ground duels, led the team with 62 live touches and completely snuffed out the dangerous Bryan Mbeumo. The 38-year-old has played rather more than most would anticipated and has struggled as a consequence, but if used in a more limited fashion has showed that he still has something to offer.

Dyche clearly puts much faith in Young's professionalism and there is a lot to be said for retaining someone with the good habits necessary to enable playing at top level at his age. Likewise Gueye, though the Senegal international is still probably one of Everton's best players.

Statistics provided courtesy of fotmob.com