Paul Clement hatches Everton set-piece plan after 21/22 failings
Among the many things Everton struggled with last season, defending set-pieces proved to be their downfall on a number of occasions.
It was an issue prior to Frank Lampard’s appointment in January after Rafael Benitez was sacked and it continued to the end of the 2021-22 campaign.
Toffees coach Paul Clement has now revealed some of the changes made behind the scenes to try and combat this glaring issue and he thinks new recruit James Tarkowski could be the key to the answer.
“I think, first of all, you have got to put your hat on something, whether that is that you are going to go man-for-man, whether you are going to go zonal, whether it is going to be a combination of the two – you have got to go with something,” Clement said to the Liverpool Echo.
“So we made a change on the last management team. That is not to say that what they decided to do was the wrong thing, it is just that sometimes you have got to make a change.
“I think with any system or style you are going to use there are going to be some positives about it and there are going to be some negatives about it.
“It is the same with the shape. Some systems are strong at certain things and there are weaknesses at other things. It is the same with set plays.
“We had some inconsistency with team selection. With Yerry (Mina) in the team, he is going to make a difference, I think Tarkowski in the team is going to make a difference, with Dom (Calvert-Lewin) fit he makes a difference.”
Turnaround
When you look at the height on offer at Everton, it is difficult to see why Everton were so poor at defending set-pieces throughout last season.
Mina, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Abdoulaye Doucoure are all very tall and great in the air while the likes of Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey are hardly small too.
It should never have got so bad but with a new season comes a fresh start and Tarkowski’s presence and organisation will undoubtedly make the Toffees much stronger defensively.
Lampard now has a chance to turn what was his side’s kryptonite into a real weapon too because it only takes one good dead ball specialist to whip in pinpoint crosses to see all of the aforementioned aerial threats start to power in the goals at the opposite end of the pitch.
And he will need that kind of weapon too after only just surviving last season and Tarkowski being the only new recruit so far this summer.