HuddersfieldToffee
Player Valuation: £8m
Thought I would start a little thread to discuss Everton tactics throughout the season and the general tactical trends of the Premier League and how we respond to them. Thought I'd start by discussing my views on the discussion point of the World Cup, at least from my point of view.
The Good Ole' Back Three and Tactical Flexibility
In RM's first year, at the end of the season, following numerous experiments inspired by Walter Mazzarri's Napoli and Francesco Guidolin's Udinese sides, started with a 3-5-1-1 to play against Champion-elect Chelsea, who were at this time switching between narrow 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-3-1-2 formations. According to Zonal Marking's Michael Cox;
"Chelsea, who were relentless and powerful at that point – but actually lacking in shape and discipline – found it very difficult to cope with the fact Wigan were playing three players in very wide positions with the ball, and by stretching the play as wide as possible, Wigan dominated possession."
Although losing a man and a penalty, and collapsing defensive due to losing Gary Caudwell, RM saw a positivity in the width and the positive play that the formation allowed. The next year, he switched on the 11th February 2012 to a 3-4-3 formation and recorded victories against Manchester United and Arsenal, and eventually stayed up. All this has already been said.
It must also be said the Back Three was only defeated in the World Cup when it came up against another Back Three. But also, the key to those triumvirates of defence, De Vrij/Vlaar/Martins Indi, Moreno/Marquez/Rodriguez, Jara/Medel/Silva and Umana/Gonzalez/Duarte, were players who had ball-playing elements in the back line, and also flexible players such as Daley Blind and Bryan Ruiz who can accommodate themselves in different systems very effectively. Blind played at left-wing-back thrice, left back once, left half back (left holding mid) and left centre-back. Bryan Ruiz played upfront, on the left and behind the striker.
The old way of a player being a Left Winger, a Centre-Back, or even just a goalkeeper (as Goalkeeper come Centre-Back Manuel Neuer and Wallace from Corinthians) is over. Now players are left-sided, attacking, defensive or right sided. The lines are more blurred than ever. This supports the theory of Baines becoming a Central Midfielder during games, or later on in his career, and Oviedo playing Left Wing Back, Left Back and Left Wing (as well as CDM while playing Nordsjælland). Stones' cultured liberoish performances during the latter end of the season were typical of many defenders who have played all along the back four. A quick graph of his passes against Fulham '14 (while playing in a Back Four), compared to one of Jagielka against Arsenal the year before shows the difference in centre-backs from Moyes to Martinez;
STONES VS FULHAM
JAGIELKA VS ARSENAL
This change in style has preempted the change in formations, and allowed older style centre-backs, like Distin and Jagielka to be protected, like Vlaar in the centre of the Dutch defence. It also, concurrently, allows more adventurous centre back to receive protection from excellent concrete (or RONcrete) defensive players. This double effectiveness needs to be balanced with a good understanding between the back three, which at times, especially during the Manchester City game when the cohesiveness has obviously not quite got there.
Bobby has said that he favours flexibility, "At Anfield we played the two separate systems, and no-one would be able to see the difference" he commented talking about the switch between 4-3-3 and 3-4-3. With Stones and Bešić (who's arriving in 48 hours apparently
) modern style Centre-Backs, who can step into midfield or towards the right respectively - how often do you think the Back Three will be used and will it's key be the flexibility of the defenders who play it?
The Good Ole' Back Three and Tactical Flexibility
In RM's first year, at the end of the season, following numerous experiments inspired by Walter Mazzarri's Napoli and Francesco Guidolin's Udinese sides, started with a 3-5-1-1 to play against Champion-elect Chelsea, who were at this time switching between narrow 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-3-1-2 formations. According to Zonal Marking's Michael Cox;
"Chelsea, who were relentless and powerful at that point – but actually lacking in shape and discipline – found it very difficult to cope with the fact Wigan were playing three players in very wide positions with the ball, and by stretching the play as wide as possible, Wigan dominated possession."
Although losing a man and a penalty, and collapsing defensive due to losing Gary Caudwell, RM saw a positivity in the width and the positive play that the formation allowed. The next year, he switched on the 11th February 2012 to a 3-4-3 formation and recorded victories against Manchester United and Arsenal, and eventually stayed up. All this has already been said.
It must also be said the Back Three was only defeated in the World Cup when it came up against another Back Three. But also, the key to those triumvirates of defence, De Vrij/Vlaar/Martins Indi, Moreno/Marquez/Rodriguez, Jara/Medel/Silva and Umana/Gonzalez/Duarte, were players who had ball-playing elements in the back line, and also flexible players such as Daley Blind and Bryan Ruiz who can accommodate themselves in different systems very effectively. Blind played at left-wing-back thrice, left back once, left half back (left holding mid) and left centre-back. Bryan Ruiz played upfront, on the left and behind the striker.
The old way of a player being a Left Winger, a Centre-Back, or even just a goalkeeper (as Goalkeeper come Centre-Back Manuel Neuer and Wallace from Corinthians) is over. Now players are left-sided, attacking, defensive or right sided. The lines are more blurred than ever. This supports the theory of Baines becoming a Central Midfielder during games, or later on in his career, and Oviedo playing Left Wing Back, Left Back and Left Wing (as well as CDM while playing Nordsjælland). Stones' cultured liberoish performances during the latter end of the season were typical of many defenders who have played all along the back four. A quick graph of his passes against Fulham '14 (while playing in a Back Four), compared to one of Jagielka against Arsenal the year before shows the difference in centre-backs from Moyes to Martinez;
STONES VS FULHAM
JAGIELKA VS ARSENAL
This change in style has preempted the change in formations, and allowed older style centre-backs, like Distin and Jagielka to be protected, like Vlaar in the centre of the Dutch defence. It also, concurrently, allows more adventurous centre back to receive protection from excellent concrete (or RONcrete) defensive players. This double effectiveness needs to be balanced with a good understanding between the back three, which at times, especially during the Manchester City game when the cohesiveness has obviously not quite got there.
Bobby has said that he favours flexibility, "At Anfield we played the two separate systems, and no-one would be able to see the difference" he commented talking about the switch between 4-3-3 and 3-4-3. With Stones and Bešić (who's arriving in 48 hours apparently
) modern style Centre-Backs, who can step into midfield or towards the right respectively - how often do you think the Back Three will be used and will it's key be the flexibility of the defenders who play it? 
