View: Allan has had remarkable impact at Everton since summer arrival
The signing of Allan has been an instant success, with the Everton midfielder providing some much-needed tenacity in the centre of the park.
With Carlo Ancelotti’s team boasting numerous talented creative players such as James Rodriguez, Andre Gomes, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Alex Iwobi, in addition to devastating forwards Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a player to act as a facilitator and a shield for the defence was necessary.
Seven matches into his Premier League career with the Toffees and Allan looks very capable of playing that role.
Per 90 minutes, Allan averages 4.6 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, two fouls, 0.9 clearances and 0.6 blocks (via WhoScored). On the ball he is steady, completing 88.8% of his 51 attempted passes per match, and providing 0.4 key passes on average (via WhoScored). Furthermore, no regular in the Everton side has completed more successful pressures per 90 than the Brazilian, while he tackles 38.5% of players that dribble at him (via FBRef).
Positionally, he has featured predominantly as the deepest man in the Everton midfield, tasked with picking the ball up from the centre-backs and allowing the full-backs to push on.
While Everton lost to United, Lucas Digne at left-back was able to cause plenty of damage in particular, hitting the post and allowing for an early chance for Bernard through his aggressive movement. As the ball shifts right to left, Allan is always readjusting his position and looking to cover the space left behind.
In this match, Everton used to long-balls from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and switches to great effect, and this made Allan’s ability to cover ground and cover his teammates all the more important.
While his positional discipline and awareness is unglamorous work, it provides an important bedrock for Everton’s attacking play. It also means that Doucoure can break into the area, as he did with great effect late on when he went close to bagging an equaliser. With Allan, Ancelotti has a player that can mop up danger and has the skills and awareness to facilitate for his teammates.
Against United, Everton’s key weakness came in the air, with both of their first two goals the result of their failure to deal with crosses. Standing at just 1.75 metres, this is not an area where Allan excels, but is in an area Ancelotti needs to look before the next match.
In other Everton news, there is an Everton player that has become a doubt for Sunday’s meeting with Fulham