Everton finally got their season started midweek, in dispatching League Two outfit Doncaster Rovers 3-0 at Goodison Park, in the EFL Cup. Sean Dyche finally let his new signings off the leash, giving Iliman Ndiaye, Jesper Lindstrom and Jake O’Brien their first starts - and, in the case of the Irishman, first minutes - of the campaign.
The playing time the trio got into their legs will help to get each of them up to speed with their new teammates, and to integrate them into Dyche’s style of play. That, the return to fitness of club captain Seamus Coleman and midfielder James Garner boosts the options available to the Blues manager.
It’s vital that the Merseysiders avoid losing a third consecutive Premier League game heading into the international break and a victory this weekend would send them off in a positive frame of mind. The opposition visiting Goodison on Saturday is Bournemouth, currently sitting in 14th spot in the nascent table.
The Cherries enjoyed a positive first year helmed by new boss Andoni Iraola in finishing 12th — three places and nine points higher than in the previous campaign. Bournemouth overcame an arduous start, failing to win any of their opening nine league outings, as it took the new man some time to impose his demanding, complex tactical approach on his charges. A run of seven wins from the following nine matches was quite an amazing turnaround. They appeared to be a streaky outfit, again going winless in the next seven, then picking up six victories from ten, before ending the season on a run of three defeats.
Still, the progress made under the Basque was clear. Accordingly, the Bournemouth hierarchy have reinforced again during the summer, spending €38.3m net in the transfer market. Defender Lloyd Kelly departed on a free to Newcastle United, but the most significant names leaving have been star striker Dominic Solanke, to Tottenham Hotspur, for a fee of €64.3m and starting goalkeeper Neto — a surprise mover on loan to Arsenal on the final day of the window.
Eight players were signed, including a direct replacement for Solanke in the form of Brazilian striker Evanilson, for €37m from FC Porto, Leeds United winger Luis Sinisterra (€24.3m), Barcelona right back Julian Araujo (€10m) and teenage Dutch central defender Dean Huijsen from Juventus (€15.2m). Striker Enes Unal’s loan from Getafe was made permanent - for €16.5m - and one-time €80m stopper Kepa arrived on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The South Coast outfit have gotten off to a mixed start to the campaign, drawing both league matches by identical 1-1 scorelines. They salvaged a late result away at Nottingham Forest, but blew a lead at home against Newcastle on Sunday, in a poorly officiated match which saw an injury-time winner for the Cherries cancelled out by VAR. On Wednesday, the club exited the EFL Cup at the London Stadium, a rotated lineup succumbing 1-0 to West Ham United.
It was something of a coup last year for Bournemouth to secure the services of Iraola, who’d been building a reputation for himself in his homeland, at Madrid club Rayo Vallecano The Spaniard is a man who is wedded to his ideas and has maintained a 4-2-3-1 system since arriving in England. He prefers progressive, attacking football, but is not obsessed with possession for its own sake, or super-high pass completion percentages.
Instead, in his demanding system, which severely taxes the intelligence and fitness of his players, he looks to set traps for the opposition, looking to pressure them into turnovers in the middle or - preferably - final third. The Cherries don’t sit deep, but implement a mid block shape, blocking off passing routes, forcing the opposition to either go long or to try to play through an educated press. The Magpies fell foul of this approach last weekend, with Joelinton caught in possession, leading to Bournemouth’s opening goal.
In possession, the Cherries look to zip the ball around and can be very effective when they get into a rhythm. They utilize a lot of one-touch passing and intelligent movement in order to pull defenders out of position and to create advantageous situations. Both fullbacks are proactive in providing overlapping runs and the defence is very comfortable recycling the ball from the halfway line, creating plenty of pressure with the opposition pushed back. It’s easy to see that Iraola works intensively on the offensive side of the game — in addition to his structured pressing schemes.
Defensively, they can be got at. They aren’t the biggest side at the back and look vulnerable to crosses, particularly fired in towards the far post. The South Coast side are tenacious in duels, but were physically outmatched in the early going against the Magpies. The visitors do get bodies forward when on the attack and as a consequence, can be hurt on the break should a move break down.
Evanilson put in a good shift in leading the line on Sunday. He’s not super-fast, but made some clever runs, worked hard out of possession and battled away with the physical Newcastle centre backs. The Brazilian managed to get off three attempts, hit the target with two and was probably a little unlucky not to score. For a first viewing, I was quite impressed and he appears to have the characteristics to succeed in this league.
On the right wing, Antoine Semenyo is a real handful. He had no success on the dribble but carried the ball into the Magpies’ penalty box on six occasions on Sunday. The Ghanaian was erratic with his shooting, failing to test Nick Pope with any of his seven attempts on goal, but with his combination of strength, movement and industry he was a constant menace. He ended the game with an outstanding 96% pass completion rate, including creating three chances for his teammates.
Left winger Marcus Tavernier scored Bournemouth’s goal against Newcastle and was a threat all afternoon. The 25-year-old led his side with four key passes and linked up well with young roving fullback Milos Kerkez, who showed great energy and enthusiasm to get forward in support.
The key for Everton will be in making a strong start to the game today. Bournemouth were slow to get going on Sunday and Iraola will be nervous that the hosts could try to jump on his side early, as they did with some effect against Brighton in the opening game of the season — though of course failing to take advantage. Still, the Basque is a man who pays attention to effective pressing and observed in his pre-match press conference that the Blues were successful in forcing turnovers from the Seagulls.
He’ll have drilled his players to expect early aggression from the Toffees, but I’m certain Dyche will send his troops out to pressure the visitors regardless. If the Merseysiders can pen the Cherries in and force errors, then their chances of taking a lead go up exponentially. Forcing corners and firing in crosses could pay dividends.
Newcastle bought a lot of cheap free kicks from Bournemouth in the second half by going down under pressure, with the intent of blunting their intense press and this largely worked. The Blues could do likewise, should the referee be accommodating. This would also give the hosts chances to fire in free kicks from deep areas, challenging what is not a physically imposing Cherries side. Everton shouldn’t be as vulnerable to Bournemouth’s pressing as most teams - given their general lack of interest in playing out from the back - but they’ll still have to be wary not to cough up the ball in midfield.
What side Dyche will select this afternoon will be on the minds of many fans. I’m expecting Dominic Calvert-Lewin to resume leading the line and for Coleman to line up at right back. Should James Tarkowski be fit, then I’d like to see O’Brien partner him — as he’s a better fit than Michael Keane, but anticipate Dyche won’t see it that way. Idrissa Gueye is likely to form a midfield tandem with Tim Iroegbunam and Dwight McNeil is a certain starter, probably on the left, with Jack Harrison again on the opposite flank.
Ndiaye should be deployed behind the striker, in preference to the underperforming Abdoulaye Doucoure, but will he? I can see fans being unimpressed if the exciting attacker is left riding the pine again today.
The Blues need to cut out the errors, and to impose themselves with the kind of direct, physical football that’s so strongly associated with Dyche — lots of crosses and set-piece situations. It may not be pretty and Everton could be outplayed for long stretches, but it’s a potential winning formula.
Prediction: Everton 2-1 Bournemouth
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