Everton’s run of form in the Premier League this season put them at the top of the league table before the first international break. With 4 wins, they are the only team apart from Aston Villa to have a 100 % win record in this season. Much of the credit for this sudden change in fortune can be attributed to the work done by their manager Carlo Ancelotti over the past 8 months.
Since his arrival at the club in December last year, Ancelotti has been successful with the tactics and coaching style he is known for. His ‘macro approach’ to tactics which involves picking a certain shape and style of play and then leaving it to his players to adapt on the field is working perfectly at Everton.
Bringing in quality players like Abdoulaye Doucoure, James Rodriguez and Allan before the start of this season, Ancelotti switched to a 4-3-3 formation to provide more fluency to the team as compared to the hybrid 4-4-2 formation used last season after his arrival. The conventional and standard 4-4-2 formation, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison at the front, provided a certain degree of defensive stability and effectiveness in the attacking transitions.
It was also obvious that the highly adaptive Ancelotti would tweak his tactics and switch to a fluid 4-3-3 this season with the arrival of new players. A balanced midfield trio of Gomes, Allan and Doucoure operating right behind the deadly front three of Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin and Rodriguez is clearly working wonders for the team.
Left and right backs Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman are instructed to move up the flanks simultaneously, while Richarlison has the licence to make diagonal cuts from the left in order to support Calvert-Lewin. Rodriguez sometimes takes up the 10 role if required and Doucoure and Gomes never attack together – when one of them move up the field to attack, the other sits back. This style of play help them avoid straight lines and provide them with multiple opportunities to make vertical progressions. This probably explains Everton’s high possession average (54.5%) and their free-spirited and high scoring form.