Everton rely too heavily on Jack Grealish, as midfield not built to deal with build-up in his absence
Everton lost a lot of attacking intent when Jack Grealish was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Manager David Moyes was left stuck to find a solution, and that has not been aided by the use of his midfield this season.
In truth, going forward, the midfield setup by the Toffees has lacked creative intent and forward thinking.
Whether it is due to their qualities as players or based on instructions, those are the circumstances of the matter.
Now, as Everton look to save their European hopes, they may end up being caught by their over reliance on players such as Grealish, with the midfield struggling to progress the ball.
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Everton’s midfield struggling to progress the ball up the pitch
Everton have not won in their last three Premier League matches and have failed to go ahead in any of the matches.
While they have scored four goals, those finishes have come from desperate times when the Toffees are losing.
| Everton in last three Premier League games | Total |
| Wins | 0 |
| Minutes winning | 0 |
| Added time goals conceded | 2 |
It is an issue that could continue to hamper their European hopes, and the lack of intent in attack could lie with the midfield.
As shown by the graph below, when it comes to getting the ball up the pitch and into the final third, the Everton midfielders all lack in that area.
Garner is the only player to be outside the bottom left quadrant, but even then, the Englishman is only just outside it.
That bottom left area represents those that do little to progress the ball, and with Jake O’Brien typically at right-back and offering little going forward, it typically falls onto Everton’s wingers to take the ball up the pitch.
This becomes ever more clear considering that Grealish is top three in the Premier League for progressive carries per 90 at 4.83.
Everton want to keep Grealish next season, but they cannot allow themselves to be reliant on one star.
David Moyes must twist in the final stretch of the Premier League
With just one point out of the last nine, Everton may not be afforded the chance to draw any games to keep their European chances alive.
With the table being tight, any dropped points could result in the gap becoming too big to overcome with few games to claw it back.
The Blues cannot afford to be limp in attack, and more onus on the midfield to get the team going up the pitch must be put on them.
Everton have a chance to make this a special season, and they cannot allow it to slip away.
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