HuddersfieldToffee
Player Valuation: £10m
Everton 2-3 West Ham - Everton start with a 3-4-3, Mirallas causes problems until dismissal
Initial Formations
Initial formations prior to the sending off, the front six for Everton, the two wing-backs, Barkley and the Front Three were very fluid but most of the switches seemed very pre-planned rather than off the cuff. Lennon and Mirallas occasionally switched, but both had similar rolls either side, Lennon counter-attacking by staying closer to the space in behind Ogbonna, to whom Lukaku would drop for longer balls, in order to run in behind and did a similar job running at Kouyate on the opposite flank. Mirallas would drop inside and a little deeper but would also drift to the touchline to allow Oviedo to underlap. Lukaku would drop, usually to either of the outside centre-backs, usually Ogbonna as Cresswell would sit a little bit deeper as the more natural defender of the wing-back pair.
Everton's inital 3-4-3, with Oviedo and Coleman playing fluid roles, mainly in reaction to the movements of Mirallas and Lennon.
Below shows an early attack with the initial positions and interplay. It can clearly be seen that McCarthy is playing slightly deeper with Barkley moving into the half-space, which is well covered by Pedro Obiang. Romelu Lukaku moved often towards the right side to exploit longer balls for runs in behind by Lennon, who has come ball side of Lennon and is in the half-space between Ogbonna and Cresswell. Mirallas varied his position intelligently to allow for variation between an underlap and overlaps with Oviedo. Coleman played a slightly more conventional wing-back role. The movement was quite encouraging early on, but looked like the system could use more time to bed in.
West Ham played an interesting cross between a 5-3-2 and 5-2-2-1, with Payet moving closer to Emineke and Lanzini playing a shuttling role closer to the midfield. They played with a low block early on, but gradually started to draw higher after about 25 minutes. Payet gradually found more promising positions and the whole possession game from West Ham felt more stable, even early on. With such a system, Everton perhaps would have been better to drop into 5-4-1 and use more pace to counter behind the space left by Antonio and to a lesser extent Cresswell. Despite this, and possibly with the home crowds eagerness to retain the ball and move it more threateningly with switches of play, Martinez tried an initially quick passing game for the first phase of the play, before gradually switching to a more possessional orientated style with the ball moving from side to side to pull gaps in the system. West Ham were organised however and in this phase of play they were caught out by pressing traps by Bilic's men.
They gained more of the ball as West Ham slowed the game down forcing the Toffees into their second phase of play, counter-attacking into the space behind with a varied positioning of Noble and Obiang moving to a position to move the balls to the wingbacks and a variation between Lanzini spiriting wide with Payet moving into the ten-space position behind Emineke and Lanzini drifting forward with Payet spriting behind Stones into the wings. Noble would then assume a higher position with Obiang playing a true holder in front of Ogbonna, Oxford, and Kouyate who played as a standard three-chain with the outside centre backs holding a tighter distance between the two than their Blue counterparts, to protect against counter attacks through the centre, confident that Pedro Obiang could drop in and defend as a forward playing sweeper of sorts.
Early Lukaku Goal
Everton gained an early advantage which showed the benefits of the attacking system with a back three. Oviedo always used an extremely varied game with his positioning throughout the first half, coming inside to balance the runs of Mirallas with his lateral and direct movements with the ball, which caused him to be forced to vary to prevent congesting the wing zone and balancing the options for the man on the ball. The first goal saw Oviedo start wide and drift inside to a central position, balanced by the cover of Mirallas dropping deeper and wider. Oviedo and Mirallas dragged both Antonio and Kouyate into a position too narrow which caused a hole to appear in the West Ham defence. Lukaku moved to overload Reece Oxford and Oviedo's direct run gave him room to take it to feet without double pressure and turn the West Ham youngster, while Oviedo moved further inside to prepare for any counter-pressing that could be had.
Initial Formations
Initial formations prior to the sending off, the front six for Everton, the two wing-backs, Barkley and the Front Three were very fluid but most of the switches seemed very pre-planned rather than off the cuff. Lennon and Mirallas occasionally switched, but both had similar rolls either side, Lennon counter-attacking by staying closer to the space in behind Ogbonna, to whom Lukaku would drop for longer balls, in order to run in behind and did a similar job running at Kouyate on the opposite flank. Mirallas would drop inside and a little deeper but would also drift to the touchline to allow Oviedo to underlap. Lukaku would drop, usually to either of the outside centre-backs, usually Ogbonna as Cresswell would sit a little bit deeper as the more natural defender of the wing-back pair.
Everton's inital 3-4-3, with Oviedo and Coleman playing fluid roles, mainly in reaction to the movements of Mirallas and Lennon.
Below shows an early attack with the initial positions and interplay. It can clearly be seen that McCarthy is playing slightly deeper with Barkley moving into the half-space, which is well covered by Pedro Obiang. Romelu Lukaku moved often towards the right side to exploit longer balls for runs in behind by Lennon, who has come ball side of Lennon and is in the half-space between Ogbonna and Cresswell. Mirallas varied his position intelligently to allow for variation between an underlap and overlaps with Oviedo. Coleman played a slightly more conventional wing-back role. The movement was quite encouraging early on, but looked like the system could use more time to bed in.
West Ham played an interesting cross between a 5-3-2 and 5-2-2-1, with Payet moving closer to Emineke and Lanzini playing a shuttling role closer to the midfield. They played with a low block early on, but gradually started to draw higher after about 25 minutes. Payet gradually found more promising positions and the whole possession game from West Ham felt more stable, even early on. With such a system, Everton perhaps would have been better to drop into 5-4-1 and use more pace to counter behind the space left by Antonio and to a lesser extent Cresswell. Despite this, and possibly with the home crowds eagerness to retain the ball and move it more threateningly with switches of play, Martinez tried an initially quick passing game for the first phase of the play, before gradually switching to a more possessional orientated style with the ball moving from side to side to pull gaps in the system. West Ham were organised however and in this phase of play they were caught out by pressing traps by Bilic's men.
They gained more of the ball as West Ham slowed the game down forcing the Toffees into their second phase of play, counter-attacking into the space behind with a varied positioning of Noble and Obiang moving to a position to move the balls to the wingbacks and a variation between Lanzini spiriting wide with Payet moving into the ten-space position behind Emineke and Lanzini drifting forward with Payet spriting behind Stones into the wings. Noble would then assume a higher position with Obiang playing a true holder in front of Ogbonna, Oxford, and Kouyate who played as a standard three-chain with the outside centre backs holding a tighter distance between the two than their Blue counterparts, to protect against counter attacks through the centre, confident that Pedro Obiang could drop in and defend as a forward playing sweeper of sorts.
Early Lukaku Goal
Everton gained an early advantage which showed the benefits of the attacking system with a back three. Oviedo always used an extremely varied game with his positioning throughout the first half, coming inside to balance the runs of Mirallas with his lateral and direct movements with the ball, which caused him to be forced to vary to prevent congesting the wing zone and balancing the options for the man on the ball. The first goal saw Oviedo start wide and drift inside to a central position, balanced by the cover of Mirallas dropping deeper and wider. Oviedo and Mirallas dragged both Antonio and Kouyate into a position too narrow which caused a hole to appear in the West Ham defence. Lukaku moved to overload Reece Oxford and Oviedo's direct run gave him room to take it to feet without double pressure and turn the West Ham youngster, while Oviedo moved further inside to prepare for any counter-pressing that could be had.
