The 2021-22 season started well for Everton, they began with 13 points from their first six games to leave themselves sitting in the top four, new signings Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend were firing on all cylinders and the Goodison faithful were beginning to chant the name of former Liverpool manager Rafa Benítez. That was as good as it got for the Toffees though, a dismal run of nine losses in 13 league games and a Carabao Cup exit to Championship club QPR led Everton to sack the Spaniard and replace him with Frank Lampard. A small upturn in form quickly gave way to more heavy losses and uninspiring football, before some smart tactical changes, the incredible form of Richarlison, and a raucous Goodison crowd led Everton to safety in a crazy game against Crystal Palace on Matchday 37, sparking scenes that will live long in the memory for all Toffees fans.
This season is a chance of a fresh start for Everton. A new Director of Football in Kevin Thelwell and the loss of lynchpin Richarlison means much needed change is inevitable at Goodison Park as we head towards the curtain raiser. The loss of their Brazilian attacker was quickly followed by the shrewd signing of James Tarkowski, who promises to give the defence some vital steel and ball-playing ability, while the signings of Ruben Vinagre and more so Dwight McNeil signal that maybe the days of big fees for ageing players are over, be that through choice or necessity. A more attractive brand of football has been promised by manager Frank Lampard, who has quickly won over a previously toxic fanbase with his brutal honesty and his improvement of players who have severely struggled in the past such as Alex Iwobi and Mason Holgate. With an attack led by the fit again Calvert-Lewin and fan favourite Anthony Gordon, the feeling on the blue half of Merseyside is a bit more positive than it was six months ago.
While nobody is expecting European football and an instant 180 in fortunes, a boring mid-table finish and maybe a cup run would be a big step in the right direction for a club that has continuously regressed since controversial owner Farhad Moshiri took the reins in 2016. As Everton look to build a stable Premier League squad ready to push on before their move to their new home at the Bramley Moore Dock stadium, the following are three players who’ll be crucial in both this season and into the future for The Blues.
Signing of the Summer – James Tarkowski
At the time of writing Everton have brought in three players this window and while there’s a lot of promise around McNeil, it’s Tarkowski who promises to give the club a big boost with his no- nonsense defending and his ability to command a defence. Everton have sorely lacked this with quieter defenders who have folded multiple times on the big occasions like Michael Keane and Holgate, despite the latter improving substantially since the turn of the year.
While his defensive numbers grab the headlines, it’s on the ball where he’s primed to make a big difference to the club’s style as they aim to build on an average possession stat of 41.5% which ranked them 17th in the division last season. While his progressive passing and ability to switch the ball to either full-back weren’t always evident in a Burnley side that was allergic to the ball, his performances in this department in preseason (already an assist and two pre-assists). and comments made by Lampard citing his on-ball ability at Brentford and Oldham make it clear that his passing and composure with the ball is a big part of why he’s been brought to Merseyside. And with the recent switch to a 343 his passing ability could be pivotal in getting the ball into dangerous areas quickly for Nathan Patterson and Vitali Mykolenko to exploit, an option the team lacked last season due to the defensive options being bereft of quality on the ball, meaning when the wing-backs did get the ball they often had to turn back because the opposition had already settled into shape.
Moving onto the defensive side of his game, the partnership Tarkowski had with Ben Mee has been well documented over the last three years, but a deep dive into the numbers show how good he truly is at the more gritty side of the game. Obvious context is that Burnley really struggled last season, but Tarkowski excels in every defensive metric available. Firstly, he averaged 1.29 blocks per 90, which ranks him comfortably fourth in the division, but more importantly ranks him 22 places and 0.4 blocks per 90 higher than Everton’s best ‘blocker’ last season in Michael Keane. Everton frequently gave away opportunities around the edge of the box because nobody would go and close the shooter down last season, Tarkowski is an ideal candidate to address that issue.
Another thing Everton lacked last year was someone to lead the defence from set-pieces. Yerry Mina is a dominant force in the air but was all too often injured in a forgettable season for the Colombian. And brace yourself for this, but last season Everton conceded a staggering 22 goals from set-piece situations (a league high); for context, Manchester City and Liverpool conceded 26 goals each in total. Adding somebody who can control the penalty box and command his team mates was vital, and that’s a big quality that Tarkowski brings to any side he’s a part of.
A good reading of the game was also a must for Everton heading into this window. While they’ve got players with great recovery speed like Ben Godfrey or great aerial prowess like Mina, they were incredibly easy to carve open because so many of their starting defenders and midfielders were just positionally naive. They had nobody who could step out of position and win the ball, with players either being too timid or showing woeful decision making as to when to step out. Tarkowski could well change this, he comfortably led the league for interceptions last year and is the type of aggressive defender Everton desperately need. I’m not a fan of the cat and dog centre-back analogy, but Tarkowski fits the aggressive ball-winner mould infinitely better than anything the clubs other centre-backs have offered up over the last year.
Key Player – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
If Everton are to avoid another relegation battle this season, it will largely be down to the goals of their talisman. Last season was a well documented struggle for Calvert-Lewin as bad luck with injuries resulted in him scoring only three non-penalty league goals, a tally that would’ve seemed incomprehensible given his total of 16 the season before. This season more than ever there is a huge amount of pressure on the striker, with Richarlison leaving they’ve lost one of their only twp scoring threats, and while the signing of Dwight Mcneil offers the Toffees something different, he’s not going to offer much from a box threat standpoint.
Despite the injury issues, ‘DCL’ did manage to play 17 games over the course of the season, but both his performances and underlying numbers took a dip. Under Carlo Ancelotti he was entrusted with solely being a penalty box striker, helped by Richarlison being deployed next to him and always making runs off of him. This poacher role enabled him to rack up 2.31 shots per game in the 2020-21 season, but more importantly he did that with an xG per shot of 0.21. Compare that to this past season, where when available he was isolated and 30 yards away from Richarlison most of the time, and his production fell to 2.1 shots per game with just 0.14 xG per shot. This was something that Lampard tried to address, and towards the end of the season we began to see the best of Calvert-Lewin as Richarlison was pushed into a more central role alongside him, meaning suddenly he wasn’t the only player the opposition had to worry about when the ball was coming into the penalty area. This resulted in the Sheffield-born forward scoring two and assisting another in his final three games, ultimately scoring the goal to secure Premier League football at Goodison Park for the upcoming campaign.
The hope around Goodison is that this season will be a bounce-back year for the club’s two-time top goalscorer, as he looks to put the injuries behind him and take back his place as one of the top penalty box strikers in the entire league. With his future seemingly being at Everton and his injury issues hopefully in the past, the onus is now on Lampard to truly build a team to play to the forward’s strengths.
FPL Asset – Anthony Gordon
One of the bright sparks of the dismal 2021-22 campaign was the breakthrough of academy graduate and local lad Anthony Gordon. A player Lampard absolutely adores, he’s one of the first names on the team sheet and will carry more of a production burden following the sale of Richarlison. While his price of £5.5M puts him level with FPL favourites like Michael Olise and Pedro Neto, what sets him apart is his availability as he played 40 games in all competitions last season and has been entrusted with the number 10 shirt for the coming campaign. Couple that with the fact that he is one of the club’s go-to set-piece takers and will now be moving from the right wing to the left wing, a position he prefers as he can cut onto his stronger foot, and Gordon is a strong contender for your FPL side.
While some would call him being thrown into a team so devoid of any confidence a baptism of fire, he really stepped up to the plate, always looking for the ball and always wanting to turn and progress up the pitch through his carrying and dribbling ability – something that came in handy in a team that really lacked progression through passing. The 21 year-old led the team both in dribbles (5.8 per 90) and in progressive carries (2.9 per 90) and at times really did drag the team by the scruff of the neck. While the return of Calvert-Lewin and the late-season form of Richarlison dimmed his role in the side a little, the young winger still enjoyed a great breakout year, and is primed for a production blow up in 2022-23.
Expected Eleven
Heading into this season there’s been a very clear point made by Frank Lampard on multiple occasions. In an ideal world he doesn’t want to play the 343 he deployed towards the end of last season and throughout the whole of this preseason, he’s made clear he wants to line up in a 433, but his feeling is that the club lacks a solid enough defensive midfielder to play that way at the moment. This is all due to change with the seemingly imminent signing of persistent ball- winner and even more persistent homophobe Idrissa Gueye.
Away from the formation, there are also lots of personnel choices that are up in the air going into the season opener against Chelsea. During preseason Lampard has trialled Tarkowski and Godfrey alongside every defender on the first team books, with that last spot in the middle of the three centre-back positions up for grabs between Mina, Keane and Holgate.
Another question is what the midfield will look like. Iwobi has been a revelation under the new management and has turned the left-central-midfield position into his own, thanks to his non-stop pressing and his ability to play between the lines so adeptly, but again there’s a spot next to him that’s open between Abdoulaye Doucouré, Allan or even the bold choice of Dele Alli. These factors make it difficult to completely predict what lineup Lampard will go with for Matchday One and beyond, as both he and the club seek to find balance in a still unbalanced squad.
