Luton Town 1-1 Everton: Three Takeaways | Disjointed Blues Snatch Point

06/05/2024 11:00

The Toffees again failed to beat a promoted side who will probably be heading straight back down

A Lack of Imagination

The most disappointing element in Everton's 1-1 draw with Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Friday night wasn't the result — though the team failing to beat the plucky, but ultimately limited, prosaic hosts in three attempts this season, losing twice is not the stuff of legend. Nor was there any lack of effort from a side that had secured its survival in the top flight in its previous match - a 1-0 home win against Brentford - resulting in a lacklustre, end of the season outing from the Blues. The visitors may not have been operating at top intensity levels, but they played with competitive spirit throughout.

My major issue was the tactical sterility, the lack of any variance in an approach that had seen the Toffees beaten twice by the Bedfordshire outfit at Goodison Park. I feel like I've written this before, in analysis and previews of meetings between the two clubs, but I can't understand why Sean Dyche set the team up to play Luton's type of game. OK, there are similarities in that both emphasise direct play, with plenty of long balls up to target strikers, though the Hatters are defensively far more open than the Merseysiders, use a back three system and deploy attacking wingbacks, the impressive Alfie Doughty in particular.

A side who has progressed up through the divisions, Luton are well-versed in dealing with a more agricultural style of play, but once again the Blues opted to go with blunt force - punting the ball up towards isolated striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin - as their main attacking ploy. As always, the target man battled honestly, but up against three rugged centre halves and without any teammate in the vicinity, there's only so much he can do with such service. The wide support offered from Everton fullbacks Ben Godfrey, Ashley Young and - replacing the latter for the last 25 minutes - Seamus Coleman, was negligible, the trio combining for just two crosses.

Jordan Pickford smashed 37 balls the length of the pitch (compared to 12 by the opposition goalkeeper, Thomas Kaminski), illustrating that this approach was clearly by design. I've no idea what Dyche was watching during the previous two outings against Rob Edwards' side to indicate that this strategy would work any better this time. The hosts had conceded 76 times in 35 league matches prior to this one - 2.17 per game - and had allowed an xG (Expected Goals) statistic of 72.4, so why Everton didn't set up to play in transition against a defensively suspect team that had to win, is a mystery.

Everton have now failed to beat what is essentially a good Championship side on three occasions this season. For all the positives surrounding the team's performance in recent weeks and deserved congratulations for Dyche in steering them to safety, he has yet to show any genuine adaptability in the way he sets up. It looks like what we've seen during this campaign will be as good as it gets. For now, that's enough, given the state of the club, but NSNO it ain't.

The Prodigal Son

Welcome back to last summer, the one before and quite possibly some others too. Yes, it's that time again where we are forced to consider Ross Barkley as a viable transfer target for Everton. Why, you may ask? Well, it is likely he'll become available for free at the conclusion of the campaign, when his one-year contract with Luton lapses. Also, he's an ex-Blue and if it's one thing that elements of the club's support can be prone too it is sentimentality —another being limited horizons when it comes to assessing potential recruits.

After all, we saw repeated calls to "give the job to Big Dunc", whenever Everton dispensed with a manager, with former striker and fan favourite Duncan Ferguson a coach and assistant manager under multiple regimes. Mercifully, that nonsense was done away with when the Scot eventually realized that he wasn't going to be handed the position of helming the Premier League outfit, eventually taking over at third tier Forest Green Rovers.

The Blues talisman is making his way in the managerial ranks, his first job ending in a short, disastrous stint, but is doing rather better up in Scotland at Inverness Caledonian Thistle currently, demonstrating that he may yet develop into a solid boss. However, Everton appointing a complete novice like Ferguson as manager would have been foolhardy in the extreme and it's genuinely puzzling how many fans considered this to be a serious prospect.

Back to Barkley.

TV pundit Jamie Carragher lavished praise on the former Blues prodigy during the match, but how impactful was he? He enjoyed plenty of touches operating in midfield (75), completed half his six attempted dribbles, led his team in completed passes into the opposition third and hit the target with one of his three shots, a well-hit effort from range. However, the 30-year-old created just one chance, was dispossessed three times, won only three of eight ground duels and attempted no tackles at all. In fact, he was anonymous out of possession, contributing only one blocked pass and one clearance, with six ball recoveries.

Since leaving Everton in January 2018, Ross has struggled to convince and injuries have robbed him of some of his dynamism, though he still retains his skill and appears a little smarter in his use of the ball. A mixed spell on loan last term at OGC Nice ended in the French side electing not to move for him on a free last summer. He signed on at Luton and has performed well in a deeper-lying role, but where would he play in a Dyche side? I can't see any way Dyche would entertain using such a weak defensive player in midfield.

The obvious answer would be in his old, more advanced central position, but the current Everton boss does not play a conventional number ten, any more than he uses attackers like Arnaut Danjuma on the flanks, preferring more responsible old-style wide midfielders in Dwight McNeil and Jack Harrison. Barkley would be required to press actively should he be deployed behind the striker and he's never shown any capacity to do this. So, while the former Blues star may pique fan interest and he could offer a low-cost addition, I would be surprised should this be an option the club pursues with any seriousness.

Random Observations

The manager wrung the changes early in the second half, but introducing Amadou Onana and Andre Gomes - ostensibly players happier in a possession system - yet continuing to largely bypass midfield was not joined-up thinking. After the visitors showed some signs of offensive life with around 15 minutes to go, Dyche again went two up top - as he'd done previously against Luton. It didn't work, unsurprisingly. Instead the Blues had were outshot by eight to zero from the 83rd minute, needing to rely on three good saves by Pickford and a couple of blocks to preserve the draw.

I was puzzled by the decision to reinstate Calvert-Lewin in the starting lineup in place of Youssef Chermiti. The youngster had acquitted himself well in the victory over Brentford, so I didn't see the need to rush Calvert-Lewin back, with the striker only returning to training late in the week, following illness that he'd played through against Liverpool. If Luton had been a pivotal game for Everton, then I could understand the decision, but I'm expecting Chermiti to be more involved next season and this was an ideal opportunity to offer the 19-year-old more than just an eleven-minute cameo.

The 89 minutes that the Portuguese forward played against the Bees adds up to almost half the total league action he's enjoyed since joining the club last summer. But for Beto and DCL's enforced absences, it's unlikely he'd have made more than the usual token appearance then, either. Chermiti played almost 1,000 minutes for Sporting last term, upon joining the first team in January, including 131 in five outings in the Europa League, against sides like Arsenal and Juventus. His class and potential is evident, but he needs to be given more game time in order to aid his development.

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