Everton (5)1-1(6) Southampton: Three Takeaways | Blues Way Too Passive in Cup Exit
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The way the Toffees set up, you'd have imagined they were a lower division side facing a Juggernaut
A Flawed, Negative Plan
Did Everton deserve to exit the EFL Cup via penalties, after being held to a draw over 90 minutes by Southampton? In one sense, yes as they were the home side and were unable to get over the line in regulation time, so it's hard to feel too much sympathy. One the other hand, they weren't exactly outplayed - despite the visiting team's absolute dominance in possession - and created the more dangerous moments themselves, even if they were not able to capitalize. Where have we seen this before?
As expected, both sides rotated heavily from the weekend, with the Blues making eight changes. Sean Dyche set up his side in an uncharacteristic 4-5-1, or more accurately 4-1-4-1 formation, though for reasons which escape me every site I've checked has the setup as a 4-2-3-1, which it was not until later in the game. Regardless of personnel, Saints manager Russell Martin is committed to playing out from the back in a possession-heavy system, with plenty of counter-pressing evident and this was on show from the opening kickoff at Goodison Park.
Knowing Martin's tendencies, I'd expected Everton to create much of their offence from pressuring the visitors in the centre and final third, along with set-pieces. Surprisingly, the home side sat quite deep in a lowish block, with Orel Mangala, making his first start, sitting in front of the back four and Abdoulaye Doucoure and teenager Harrison Armstrong stationed about five yards further forward. The press from the team's forward line was sporadic and lacked any real intensity, or purpose.
Consequently, Southampton found little trouble in playing out of defence and into midfield and were able to recycle the ball with ease, ending up with an embarrassing (for the home side) 74% share of possession. Adam Lallana, who rejoined his boyhood club from Brighton in the summer, is still a talented footballer, possessing vision and a good passing range. However, he's now 36 and physically limited. Still, he was able to wander around at will, accruing 68 touches in the 45 minutes he played, completing 94% of his passes, so little attention was he paid.
Every member of the South Coast outfit's defence amassed at least 100 touches and all boasted 93% pass accuracy, or better; the two centre backs combined for a staggering 304 touches. If the plan was to disrupt Southampton's possession game, then it was either very poorly executed, or didn't exist in the first place — the latter seeming to be more likely. Although the Saints didn't do an awful lot to threaten the Everton back line, that a newly-promoted side could be allowed to dominate the ball so much at Goodison under no pressure was hard to understand, or take.
Whether the style of play which Martin insists his Saints side plays will work or not in the Premier League, is irrelevant. They have an identity and the young manager wants the game played out on those terms, whatever happens. But what is Everton's identity? Setting up to negate the opponent - especially one as relatively non-threatening as Southampton - cannot be the only thing, surely? That's tough to get behind for supporters. Is there nothing else?
Hands Tied
Some of Dyche's selections have been contentious this season and to an extent, the last too, with the underutilization of Arnaut Danjuma — seen last night appearing from the bench for the last half hour of Girona's debut Champions League outing against French giants PSG. That the Dutchman is capable of playing in such a high-profile match, whilst being deemed not suitable - or good enough - to get a kick at Everton, is still a puzzling episode and a serious misjudgement of talent by the Toffees boss.
On Tuesday night, the manager's hands were tied somewhat, given the need to rest James Tarkowski, who seems to have been playing through injury and others, such as Ashley Young, who has already accumulated more minutes this term than is desirable, given his advanced age. Vitalii Mykolenko was absent through illness, which saw him exit the Aston Villa game at an early stage and this bug has apparently spread to Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Garner. The latter would almost certainly have been pencilled in to start, rather than Harrison Armstrong, if he'd been available.
Otherwise, it was good to see Mangala handed his full debut at the base of midfield, Jake O'Brien in the heart of the defence alongside Michael Keane — after a chaotic introduction from the bench for the Irishman at the weekend, Jesper Lindstrom on the right wing, and young right back Roman Dixon offered another opportunity to prove to the manager that he is ready to play against Premier League opposition. That the 19-year-old has had to be turned to, with attacker Dwight McNeil deployed as a stand-in on the left, merely illustrates the club's complacency in planning for the full back positions last summer.
Armstrong was given over an hour, but struggled somewhat, as could be expected. He found it difficult to get involved, but the 17-year-old's potential is evident and hopefully this first team experience will cause his confidence to grow, as with Dixon. Ideally, a good developmental loan can be secured for the academy graduate in January. Everton's midfield setup was so passive it's difficult to evaluate Mangala, but he seems a positionally disciplined player and it was noticeable that, for all their possession, the visitors were not able to play through the centre of the pitch very often.
Starting against reasonably competent opposition, O'Brien looked composed on the ball and formed a more balanced, complementary defensive due with Keane than we've seen with Tarkowski. It's early days for the giant ex-Lyon man, who was solid in ground duels (winning both) but bizarrely lost all three aerial contests — as did his centre back partner. Whether he did enough to displace Keane from Everton's lineup for Saturday's crucial visit to Leicester City, given how much trust Dyche places in the ex-Burnley man, remains to be seen, but I kind of doubt it.
McNeil actually put in a decent stint as a makeshift left back, defending diligently and getting forward more than fans are used to seeing from Mykolenko. Doucoure, operating in a more comfortable midfield role, was his typical semi-frustrating self, but showed his old eye for goal in putting the Blues ahead. Beto battled away without much effect, though his flick did put Lindstrom clean through on goal and he also fashioned an effort for himself in the first half, which forced a save. Boos greeted the decision to haul off the team's only striker after an hour, though it's likely this was a precautionary move given he may be needed at the weekend, should Calvert-Lewin be unavailable.
Lindstrom Must Start
I was surprised to see the Dane's performance receive some negative, or lukewarm reviews. Too much focus was given to Lindstrom's inability to convert a couple of great goal-scoring chances and a perceived lack of physical robustness, which wasn't evident during the 90 minutes he played during Tuesday night's game. It's true that the winger should have done better from two one-on-one situations with Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, but I'd rather focus on the fact that he got into those positions in the first place — something which would have been beyond Dyche's preferred starter, Jack Harrison.
The on-loan Leeds United man is trusted for his work-rate and willingness to follow the manager's instructions, but has offered little offensive threat in the 41 appearances he's racked up so far for the Blues (35 starts) — just four goals and three assists across all competitions. Harrison was introduced in the 62nd minute, in his favoured left wing spot but again made no impact, failing to complete either crossing attempt and being easily dispossessed when trying to take on Saints full back James Bree. Off the ball, he lost all four ground duels and gave away three fouls.
Lindstrom, on the other hand, was lively throughout. The 24-year-old is not a natural wide man and seems happier when he comes inside, but was Everton's primary threat. He possesses the pace that's completely lacking in Harrison and McNeil and makes great off the ball runs, including in behind the opposition defensive line. The winger used the half-spaces intelligently, is technically strong and played with his head up, providing five key passes, and putting in a few dangerous corners and free kicks, as well as using clever movement to generate those two big chances from open play — a rarity for the Toffees in recent years.
He seems to believe in his ability, shrugging off those bad misses in front of goal and instead of going hiding, increasingly showed for the ball. The failure of Lindstrom's move to Napoli last season would have hit his confidence hard, but against Southampton he showed significant glimpses of the ability that caused the Italian champions to buy him in the first place, following two successful campaigns with Eintracht Frankfurt, which included winning the Europa League in 2022. He's showing signs of gelling with his new teammates - especially Iliman Ndiaye - and there's no valid reason why a player this talented shouldn't be starting for this team.
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