When a team changes manager, the likelihood is the gameplan will alter. Take, for example, Tottenham Hotspur, who saw their open, free-flowing game adopted under Harry Redknapp altered to a more patient approach under André Villas-Boas. Stoke City have undergone a similar transformation, with the long ball game played with Tony Pulis in charge now a more possession based approach with Mark Hughes at the helm.
A comparable modification was expected at Everton, where Roberto Martínez has succeeded David Moyes. Under the Scot, the Toffees had become renowned for their physical approach, with the focal point in their attack last season the burly Marouane Fellaini, who the campaign as their top scorer in the Premier League, with 11 goals, 5 of which were headers.
Having followed Moyes to Manchester United, however, Martínez will now be forced to make do without Fellaini as he aims to reinvent this Everton side. During his time in charge of Swansea City and Wigan Athletic, the Spaniard won a number of admirers for the aesthetically pleasing football he had his teams playing, with Bill Kenwright eager to see a similar style replicated at Goodison Park.
The change in approach was always going to take time to adjust to, the Merseysiders finally picking up maximum points for the first time this season in the 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday. The victory alone was just Martínez’s second in the Premier League in 11 attempts, but perhaps more importantly showed the fans that there is life in the team after Fellaini.
The sale of the Belgian will undoubtedly be a blow, such was his role in helping Everton secure a 6th-placed finish last term, but Martínez has moved to ease his loss through the acquisitions of James McCarthy and Gareth Barry, the latter of whom played the full 90 minutes in the victory. His debut coincided with the team completing 18 successful dribbles over the duration of the encounter, Everton's highest figure in a game since WhoScored.com began gathering data from the beginning of the 2009/10 season to the present day.
In fact, over Everton’s 4 games this season, the Toffees have completed more successful dribbles per game than in any of the 38 under Moyes last term. This could come as little surprise to many, with an increase in time on the ball a benchmark of Martínez’s game, as exhibited with Wigan, and that will mean more opportunities to take players on, providing a more eye-catching game of football for fans and neutrals alike.
This is further denoted in that Fellaini started 2 of his 3 Everton games this season in a much deeper role compared to how he was utilised last season under Moyes, where the 25-year-old was regularly called upon to provide the attacking threat behind the striker. He’s since been replaced by Ross Barkley in the number 10 role, with the young midfielder offering a different threat to that of Fellaini.
Of the 18 successful dribbles in the win over Chelsea, he completed 7 of them, denoting how impressive he has been on the ball and how pivotal a member of the first team he has become under the Spaniard. With the increase in successful dribbles, seeing Everton this season attempt to run past opponents 97 times in the opening 4 games is a huge increase on their 41 after the same number of games last term, highlighting how they’re focusing their game on the floor more so than under Moyes.
Unsurprisingly, this has seen Everton’s average possession reach 59% this term - only Manchester City (62.4%) and Southampton (59.1%) has averaged higher - with that figure an improvement on their 51.5% after 4 games last season under Moyes. Over the same period, the Toffees also have a marginally stronger pass success - 84.2% compared to 81.3% - while Martínez’s Everton have also attempted more passes (1929) than Moyes’ (1639).
This further highlights how Everton’s approach has altered with the 40-year-old at the helm, focusing instead on the need to hold on to the ball, thus lowering both average possession and pass success stats. Moreover, this has seen this version of the Toffees side have more touches of the ball (2769) compared to last season (2454) with Martínez’s Everton evidently more comfortable in possession as they patiently probe the opposition for an opening instead of a more direct route to goal that Moyes, at times, adopted during his spell in charge.
With the club now spending more time on the ball, there is less of a chance to be penalised by the referee for infringements. Not only has this seen the foul count drop from 59 to 42, but Everton have also received the fewest yellow cards (2) in the Premier League so far this season, again a drop from 8 at the same stage last year.
With a new manager at the helm, changes are always expected, both in personnel and in style. The former has seen the likes of Barry, McCarthy and Arouna Koné all arrive at Goodison with Fellaini and Victor Anichebe being shown the exit door, but a change in the latter was also needed. That is why Martínez was drafted in as Moyes’ replacement to give Everton a new identity and the stats enforce the notion that this change has been in motion since their first game of the season.
Have you noticed a change in Everton's performances under Roberto Martínez? Let us know in the comments below
I like how Everton play this year. It's easy to say that based on possession and passing, but it doesn't seem like 'useless' possession without any attacking intent. Then again, maybe he just doesn't have players talented enough to play boring games of keep-away yet. I'm very interested to see Martinez's progression as a manager.