Mauricio Pochettino determined to end impressive Toffees record in Everton v Chelsea clash
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was caught off guard by one impressive Everton stat ahead of the team’s meeting at Goodison Park on Sunday (10 December).
The Toffees are the only team left in the Premier League this season who have not conceded a headed goal. Conversely, only three have conceded more than the six shipped by Chelsea, whose seven let in from crosses is the second worst (Sheffield United have 12).
Pochettino was surprised to learn Everton have yet to let in a headed goal and spoke of how his side will try to end that run, while acknowledging concerns about his own side’s shortcomings.
“Not yet? I hope that we can [score one]. We are going to try,” he said, in quotes reported by the Daily Mail (8 December).
“It [the lack of height] can be a problem but maybe no. In football, it’s the way you approach the game, the attitude and then being clever, trying to avoid giving the possibility to the opponents to use their strengths.
“When you create a team and build a team, yes you need to, in the Premier League, pay attention to this. Of course, it’s not that we will defend better if we have taller players but I think the balance is important. We have a good balance and we deal, but in the Premier League, not only us, but all the teams we concede…”
Bodies on the line
Whatever you want to say about this Everton side under Sean Dyche, one thing you can’t really level at them is a lack of effort and that is underpinned by the fact they have yet to ship a headed goal in the Premier League.
It really is quite a remarkable effort through 15 games of the top flight and really encapsulates the willingness of everyone in the team to put their head in where it hurts to try and keep the ball out of the goal.
There have been other issues of course, but you have to take the positives where they come. And the other positive is naturally Chelsea’s inability to keep out headed goals and goals from crosses, it offers a weakness for Dyche and his side to exploit.
The strange thing is that, if it were not the 10-point deduction handed out to Everton they would actually be above Chelsea in the Premier League. This fixture really represents a chance to use the momentum and get another morale-boosting win.
In other Everton news, one journalist is confident of an end to the ownership ‘crisis’ in the New Year.