Goodison Tactics: Mature and impressive Godfrey helps Everton frustrate Chelsea
Summer signing Ben Godfrey was one of the star performers for Everton on Saturday night as the Toffees beat Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park.
Lining up in a makeshift back four, Godfrey started the game at left-back, but the former Norwich City man put in an assured and mature performance to help his team gain a valuable three points at home.
Godfrey would have been well aware that he was in for a tricky evening, with Reece James lining up down the right for the Blues.
The Chelsea right-back has been a huge source of creativity for Frank Lampard’s side this season, so stopping the young defender was key to blunting Chelsea’s attack.
A quick look at Godfrey’s heatmap against Chelsea, as per Wyscout, gives you an insight into the role he played during the victory.
As a natural right-footer, his attacking instincts were non-existent. He played no through balls down the line to Richarlison and failed to deliver a single cross throughout the game, as per Wyscout.
His job was to limit the space available to Chelsea’s attackers, drifting inside at times to play as a more natural central defender.
Godfrey’s position was crucial to his success on the night. Playing out of position, it could have been easy for him to sit too narrow and allow the likes of Werner and James to bully him into uncomfortable positions.
Below, we see Chelsea waste a golden opportunity late on with Billy Gilmour on the ball.
Sitting quite narrow, it may look like Godfrey has left too much space for Werner out wide, however, he times his movement perfectly to intercept Gilmour’s pass and carries the ball out of danger for Everton.
Throughout the match, Godfrey managed both Werner and Kai Havertz brilliantly, limiting the space behind him for them to exploit.
Werner is one of the most dangerous attackers in the Premier League when running at full speed and below, we see a great example of Godfrey nullifying the versatile German.
Through quick adjustments in his positioning or willingness to show Chelsea inside, the Blues very rarely threatened down the right.
It was a performance played with such maturity that it would be easy to forget that Godfrey is just 22 years of age.
That in-game maturity was on show below, where he found himself in possession, attacking the Chelsea penalty box.
It looked as if Godfrey had done too much on the ball and squandered possession, but with a quick shift of his body shape, he was able to recover and win a foul from Olivier Giroud.
Given the lack of attacking threat that Godfrey offered, the youngster is unlikely to be considered as a long-term option out on the left and rightly so.
What this performance does do is offer supporters an interesting insight into the defender that he could become over the next two to three years.
He is clearly a player that Ancelotti trusts or he would not have asked him to do such a job in an important game.
With continued faith and consistent game time, Godfrey could develop into an ever-present figure at the heart of Everton’s defence.
In other Everton news, Alan Shearer raves about ‘magnificent’ Michael Keane after Everton win v Chelsea