Everton must show football intelligence and use key weapon this season – Michael Ball
Everton have to play to their strengths by using the size and aerial ability of the players in the squad to score goals says Michael Ball.
The Toffees are blessed with plenty of players who are good in the air, and after a slog of a 2021/22 season that saw relegation avoided at the death, as well as a frustrating transfer window, the ex-Goodison defender wants the team to exploit one of their built-in advantages.
Citing the prowess of recently-departed coach and club legend Duncan Ferguson, Ball believes that summer signing James Tarkowski fits into a group of players who should be able to dominate other sides in the air and that they should stop letting teams off the hook by not taking full advantage.
Writing in his Liverpool Echo column he said: “We’re a big, strong side and can take advantage of that if we make the right deliveries so please stop hitting the first man! Goodison seems to be a difficult place to take corners but we don’t need to hit a perfect ball, it doesn’t need to have loads of whip and pace.
“No one was going to beat Duncan in the air if he had a run and a jump on you and no one is going to beat Dominic Calvert-Lewin if he’s got a run and a jump because his leap is unstoppable. Place it in the area for him to go and meet it while we’ve also got the likes of Michael Keane, Yerry Mina, Ben Godfrey and Tarkowski.
“That’s a big issue that I’d like to see a huge improvement on this season because we let far too many teams off lightly with that. Let’s play to our strengths and show some football intelligence.”
Not so secret weapon
A side with so many big players who are good with their head should be one that no opponent wants to come up against.
The Tony Pulis-era Stoke team was exactly that, and often got results by using that to overpower stronger line-ups on paper via corners or long Rory Delap throws.
Fans are unlikely to be too delighted if Frank Lampard’s Everton team started to play too much like the Potters used to, but set-pieces are an inevitable part of the game whatever your style of play so there is no point in letting the opportunity go begging.
The players are there to take advantage of it, and considering the fact that Everton are coming off one of their worst seasons in recent memory results should still be the first priority.
The likes of Anthony Gordon and new arrival Dwight McNeil can offer more than just route-one football from open play, but where the team has advantage from dead ball situations it should be used to the fullest degree.
Lampard wants to play open, attacking football, but had success by setting his side up to be hard to beat down the stretch last year.
If he can make the general play a bit more expansive while making sure his side are lethal from corners and free kicks it would go a long way to helping avoid the sort of fight for survival that the previous campaign became.