Marco Silva’s sudden tactical change of heart could have big implications on Idrissa Gueye’s Everton career.
On the chalkboard
Silva appeared to have built his Toffees side around a solid 4-2-3-1 upon being named manager at Goodison Park.
Results were initially poor as a new fashion of play was developed following months of dire football under Sam Allardyce, but a change of fortunes kick-started results with a 3-0 thrashing of Fulham at the end of September.
Fatigue and injuries began to creep in, however, and results started to dip on the back of late heartbreak at the hands of Merseyside rivals Liverpool, when Jordan Pickford attempted to let the ball head out of play only for it to cannon back in off the crossbar for Divock Origi to score.
A 3-1 trouncing at the Etihad Stadium and a humbling 6-2 defeat at home to Tottenham left Silva scratching his head for answers, before flipping the script to thump Burnley 5-1 in their own backyard.
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A change of formation
Gueye proved a fatal loss against Manchester City, with the Toffees lacking the defensive midfielder they were building around, leaving Silva forced to change his plans.
A five-man defence behind two forward-thinking creative midfielders turned out to be a horrific error as Everton could not get a foot in the game, but a return to 4-2-3-1 against Spurs showed no difference with Tom Davies sat alongside Andre Gomes.
Revisiting three centre-backs at Turf Moor – with Gylfi Sigurdsson once again sat in front of Kurt Zouma, Michael Keane and Yerry Mina with his Portuguese team-mate pulling the strings from deep – turned out to be a masterstroke, though, as the Blues came out considerable winners.
It worked against a struggling side
Although three centre-backs with two creative midfielders worked at Burnley, Silva cannot pursue the formation against stronger sides.
The Manchester City defeat showed Everton are not capable of challenging the top teams with it, and within this lies Gueye’s secure future at Goodison Park.
Without the Senegalese ace, the Toffees lack someone who can break the opponents play and ignite a quick counter-attack, rather than relying on the last man back to cut the threat.
Evidence of this can be found in the fact Gueye has the most interceptions of any Everton player, with his 33 in 16 games nearly double that of the next midfielder – Sigurdsson has 17 in 19.
Gueye also leads the way for tackles made – winning 67 of 81 – and total passes – completing 810, to second-placed Keane’s 759.
