Passing, probing & no penetration: Are Everton missing the punch to their game? Their Game?

Everton were just one of the clubs involved in the managerial merry-go-round this summer and can count themselves lucky that they are not further down the league table after creativity has dwindled in their side.

David Moyes spent years putting together a squad built on getting the ball out of the defence quickly, utilisingSteven Pienaar’s relationship with Leighton Baines down the left to great effect as they finished first and second in the clubs key passing areas. But as well a having to deal with the loss of Marouane Fellaini, they were dealt an early blow to their season when Pienaar was ruled out for up to six weeks.

Everton’s Most Creative Players Last Season

Baines bombing down the line added an extra man in attack and helped them become one of the most productive teams in Europe in regards to creating chances. Last season saw them create 479 chances in the Premier League, putting them 6th across the top 5 European leagues and finishing ahead of Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.

Premier League Top Chance Creators Last Season

Last season saw Everon offer a refreshing alternative to the modern obsession of keeping the ball at all costs as they posted a 65.5% forward pass rate. Under Moyes they were at their best when they took the game to their opposition and though this left them vulnerable at the back, it showed there are other ways of dominating an opponent other than simply passing them to sleep.

With Martinez as the manager though, Everton are stuttering in possession and despite seeing more of the ball (54% possession average compared to last season’s 52%) than last season, their productivity has dropped after creating only 70 chances so far.

Holding the highest ratio of key passes to total number of passes in the Premier League in 2012/13 shows that more possession and a higher number of passes doesn’t always mean creativity is greater. Fans would surely rather see a greater number of attacking and meaningful passes to seeing their team control possession in their own half.

Everton Pass Type Last Season

This drop is no doubt down to the loss of a certain industrious, yet creative, South African in the past few weeks. Pienaar held one of the most productive left-sided relationships in the league last season, partnering Leighton Baines down the flank and combining to create an average of 5.3 chances per game for their teammates.

This season has seen Kevin Miralles deployed on the left-flank and as a result there has been a drop of 36% in the chances created by the team. This is no surprise to Wigan fans though as under Martinez their side posted similar figures during the whole of last season and begs the question of whether the Spaniard’s has the ability to find a successful attacking formula.

It is still early days in his tenure at Goodison Park, but if he is to go down a similar route to the one he took at Wigan where he played for possession and to control play, then he must find a striker who is clinical in front of goal. Luckily Everton no longer have to rely on the disappointing form of Nikica Jelavic who scored only 7 goals last season despite featuring in all but one of their league games. His lack of goals could not be blamed on a shortage of chances created by his teammates who managed to work 73 opportunities for the Croatia international.

Although the season is only 7 games in, it seems Martinez is trying to put his owns moves on the Everton squad, but he will have to be careful not to change things too much incase he disrupts the years of work Moyes put in at the Toffees. They find themselves in a respectable position at the moment, but cannot continue to rely on Lukaku finishing every chance he’s handed and Martinez must push for more creativity in the attacking third if they are to make a move on the Champions League places.