David Moyes to blame for embarrassing Everton collapse vs Brentford
Everton suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Brentford, and David Moyes must take most of the blame for his decision-making.
After Everton beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Tuesday night, many would have expected the hosts to build on that victory.
But the game got off to an awful start when Igor Thiago opened the scoring inside 11 minutes, and the Toffees never truly recovered.
Brentford ended up handing Everton a 4-2 loss at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and on an afternoon where Thiago destroyed the hosts’ back line to score a hat-trick, Moyes had a lot to answer for with his decision-making.
David Moyes killed Everton with half-time substitutions
Moyes made two changes to his side that comfortably secured three points against Nottingham Forest, with Jack Grealish and Michael Keane replacing Nathan Patterson and Merlin Rohl.
Some questioned why he changed a winning side, suggesting he should have persisted with Patterson in defence instead of restoring Keane, although the majority will have been happy to see Grealish return to the lineup against Brentford.
More controversially, it was the substitutions he made at half-time that ultimately killed any chance of completing a comeback.
Everton went in at half-time 1-0 down after Thiago’s opener, and in truth, were easily played through and second to every ball.
| Everton | Match stats | Brentford |
| 45% | Possession | 55% |
| 0.85 | Expected goals | 2.4 |
| 14 | Shots | 11 |
| 6 | On target | 7 |
| 30 | Touches in opp box | 23 |
| 4 | Corners | 5 |
Instead of making a tweak to the system, Moyes decided to take off Dwight McNeil and Tyler Dibling for Rohl and Beto, meaning there were two strikers on the pitch.
This double substitution made Everton more susceptible to the counter punch as there was one less body centrally, and Brentford punished them with strikes in the 50th and 51st minute.
How Brentford punished Moyes
Tactically, Keith Andrews’ side were spot on against Everton, as they mostly nullified the threat of Grealish and made it difficult for them to play through the thirds.
They let the Toffees have more of the possession, and that worked in their favour, as they were able to counterattack through Thiago, Kevin Schade and Mikkel Damsgaard, etc.
Couple that threat with some shaky defensive play, and the Bees were allowed to run riot at the Hill Dickinson, and only changing the make up of their midfield could have altered the tide.
Ultimately, the Bees were too aggressive, powerful and clinical in attack, with every defence hating the challenge of coming up against Thiago.
Enjoyed this article? Stay connected with all the latest Everton news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content by following us on our new Instagram account – @goodisonnews