Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas takes a look at what we have learned from Everton’s pre-season friendlies to date
Sean Dyche will continue to assess his Everton squad as an XI takes on Serie A side Monza behind closed doors on Tuesday.
It will be the latest opportunity to analyse his players after a summer of experimental line-ups and changing tactics. With an Everton XI having taken on Tranmere Rovers – a match Dyche chose to attend instead of the senior side’s trip to Wigan Athletic – there have been five games to learn from so far this summer.
The game against Monza and the final public friendly against Sporting on Saturday remain on the schedule, with the opening match of the Premier League season set for August 12.
A lot can happen between now and the visit of Fulham, with the potential addition of teenage striker Youssef Chermiti among them. But there are some key points that have emerged from pre-season so far.
Everton need a striker
There is no avoiding the fact that Everton need a striker. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is said to be training well and Dyche spoke positively about his progress following the win at Stoke City. But that match was the latest to showcase Everton’s need not just for a finisher, but for a genuine forward others can play off. The hunt for competition and back-up for Calvert-Lewin is now in its third transfer window. Finding the right player would not only strengthen Dyche’s options but perhaps also reduce the pressure on Calvert-Lewin.
Everton are set up to play to a forward with Calvert-Lewin’s attributes and when he is absent the system falls apart. The signing of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal is a good one but the opening half at Stoke highlighted that playing him as a lone striker was unlikely to get the best from him. Dyche acknowledged this after the match, stating his belief Danjuma is most effective on the wing or as a support striker. That only shows that Dyche is thinking what much of the fanbase is – that at least another forward is needed.
That could be Chermiti, the 19-year-old Sporting forward that Everton are now in talks over. The summer search has moved through Rodrigo and El Bilal Toure unsuccessfully but Everton appear hopeful of landing the teen striker.
James Tarkowski set for new role
James Tarkowski has started each of the four pre-season games so far and captained Everton on every occasion. Two of those games have been with Jordan Pickford, last season’s vice captain, in the same starting XI. The Stade Nyonnais match was the first time he had led the Blues out and he looks set to keep doing so until Coleman returns from the knee injury suffered in the draw at Leicester City back in May. Dyche has confirmed Coleman is still club captain.
Four at the back with Michael Keane favourite to start alongside Tarkowski
Dyche has experimented with his line-ups and his formations but two important features have remained in place throughout the games against Nyonnais, Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City – Everton have played four at the back and Tarkowski and Michael Keane have been at the heart of the defence.
With Mason Holgate’s injury and Jarrad Branthwaite having been away with the England Under-21s, and with Dyche not appearing to see Ben Godfrey as an option at centre back, there has been little alternative. But with Conor Coady and Yerry Mina having departed it looks like Keane, who Dyche quickly brought into his starting XI following his appointment in January, is currently favourite to start against Fulham. Branthwaite is liked by Dyche and will have an opportunity to impress across the coming fortnight, however.
Elsewhere across the back, Nathan Patterson has worked hard this summer to build his fitness after another injury-plagued season. He has had several positive performances and looks more dynamic moving forward – providing a number of dangerous crosses at Stoke. On the other side, Vitalii Mykolenko’s injury has left a gap to fill and Ashley Young may do just that – though Dwight McNeil’s injury could force him further forward.
Ashley Young is an astute signing
Young has been impressive since he became the first signing of the summer. He was the best player on the pitch – and the match winner – as he played on the left wing against Wigan. At Bolton and Stoke he started in the left back role he is expected to challenge for more often. During each performance his quality has been clear, particularly through his footballing intelligence and composure on the ball. Crucially, his presence has improved the standards of the players around him – Young being involved in some clever passages of play with McNeil and Alex Iwobi that have helped Everton escape trouble and move up the pitch in a way rarely seen last season.
Joao Virginia currently number two
The departure of Asmir Begovic came as a surprise at the beginning of the summer and while Andy Lonergan chose to extend his stay, it broke up a goalkeeping unit that had been pivotal to Pickford’s form over the past two seasons. Begovic was as good a deputy as Everton could have hoped for and had kept important clean sheets in two of his last three league starts. At the beginning of the summer, Joao Virginia told the ECHO of his hope that, after several seasons on loan, he could find a way to impress at Finch Farm. He has done just that.
Virginia started the first three games that Dyche attended this summer (the manager choosing to go to watch an Everton XI at Tranmere Rovers rather than the senior squad at Wigan) and has performed well. He made a big save with the match goalless in Switzerland and was then one of Everton’s best performers at Bolton – the highlight being his effort to stop Dion Charles who had been played in on goal. There is still a month of the transfer window to go and Everton will continue to track potential options. But as it stands, Virginia has done all he can to convince Dyche to place his faith in him.
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