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The Verdict: Dyche's Perfect Arsenal Game Plan

The message from new manager Sean Dyche was clear ahead of Saturday’s crucial contest against Arsenal. 

A team under him were going to put in the “hard yards”.   

There was certainly plenty of that in Saturday’s robust and resilient display. Everton as a collective unit ran 116.4km, which was the most distance they’d covered in any game all season.   

However, when facing the Premier League’s best and most in-form side, hard work alone wouldn’t have been enough.  

Under the surface of Saturday’s industrious showing was an astute game plan and some real tactical discipline from the home side.   

Let’s take a look at the threat Everton faced and how they managed to counter it to secure a crucial three points...  

Arsenal's build-up play

Although Mikel Arteta’s side usually plays a 4-3-3, the same often evolves into something much closer to a back three when they are on the ball. This is because left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko will tend to drift into midfield in the build-up phase.   

Doing this means Arsenal go from having one deep-lying midfielder and two supporting No.8s, to two deep-lying players and two No.8s ahead.  

The remaining players from the back four spread laterally into a back three, providing good coverage and protection.

The abundance of technical quality between this potential midfield quartet containing Zinchenko, Martin Ødegaard, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey is a potential big cause for concern and it’s easy to see why Arsenal are able to carve through opponents with ease on a weekly basis.   

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WATCH VIDEO 07:43

DYCHE ON WHAT MUST HAPPEN NEXT FOR EVERTON

In-depth evertontv interview with new manager after superb 1-0 win over Arsenal.

Dyche’s plan

So, how did Dyche stop Everton from becoming their next victim? It started with how he set up his Everton side on the day.  

The Blues under the previous regime had fluctuated between a variety of formations. The most often used this season had been a 4-3-3, though a back-three set-up had become more common in recent weeks.  

Dyche opted to revert to a back four, but with a five-man midfield and Dominic Calvert-Lewin spearheading the attack.  

In previous interviews, Dyche has spoken about his favour to "crunch" the pitch when his team are without the ball. For him, this means being compact as a unit, particularly through the middle, when defending.   

To deal with the aforementioned Arsenal threat, the Blues had an extra central midfielder and wide players played narrowly. This allowed very few gaps for Arsenal's most dangerous creative players to receive passes in Everton’s defensive third.  

In order to ensure Everton remained compact in the middle of the pitch, there was a tendency to allow Arsenal possession inside their own defensive third, avoiding pressing aggressively too frequently high up the pitch.  

Doing so could have opened up spaces that could be exploited in behind. Notably in terms of Passes Per Defensive Action (PPDA) - a metric used to analyse pressing high up the pitch – Everton recorded their third-least aggressive average of the season so far (16.32).   

Only in two Premier League games this season had Arsenal made more touches inside their own defensive third than they did at Goodison Park.  

Yet, trying to find passing lanes in which to progress the ball towards Everton’s goal proved problematic for the away side.

While it was Dyche who drew up the plan, those who implemented deserve great credit. It was an imposing and robust collective performance from Everton’s midfield, particularly from Amadou Onana who made more combined tackles and interceptions than any player for either side on the pitch.   

The critical role of the wide men

The need for Everton’s wide men to play so narrow inevitably meant that there was space left in wide positions, again this can be a big problem against Arsenal considering the attacking quality they boast in those positions through Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.  

As they struggled to play through Everton, the away side often attempted to switch the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, where there was room for those dangerous wide men to attack.  

This was something they attempted on a regular basis in the game. In fact, in no league game have they completed more switched passes this season.   

However, it was thanks to the hard work of Dwight McNeil - who whipped in the pin-point corner for the winning goal - and Alex Iwobi on the opposite side, that these switches didn’t prove more problematic.   

Both players worked extremely hard without the ball, blocking passing lanes through the middle while simultaneously always being primed to fire out fast and double up with wing-backs to create crucial two-against-one situations against Arsenal’s wide men when they received the ball.  

An example of this is above. Everton are in a solid compact unit, yet, when the ball is played out to Saka, Iwobi rushed out quickly to help stop the threat. 

Post-match, Dyche labelled McNeil “the right player” for his first game in charge because “he knows how I think the team should work.” The former Burnley man rewarded him with his finest Everton performance to date.   

Dyche added: “Two wide players worked tremendously hard. Alex, I know he can play, he’s a very talented footballer. But he had to work back, doubling up, he was terrific.”  

Everton’s own threat and Calvert-Lewin at his best  

While it was Everton’s fine work in nullifying Arsenal that attracted most of the plaudits after the game, it shouldn’t be overlooked that the Blues carried a consistent attacking threat of their own throughout the contest.   

In only one game since the draw at home to Liverpool in September have Everton created more shots on goals (12), while in the game it was Everton’s joint-highest (1.7) accumulated Expected Goals (xG) since the win away to Southampton at the beginning of October.   

Calvert-Lewin played a key role in that. He was a relentless runner and an ever-present handful for Arsenal’s defence.   

He won his joint-most headed duels this season (six), while his ability to hold the ball up was key in allowing teammates the chance to break out of their solid defensive shape and drive forward to offer support.   

All that was missing from his hour-long performance was a deserved goal, however, the signs from Saturday suggest there will be plenty of them again in these coming weeks and months.   

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WATCH VIDEO 02:04

HIGHLIGHTS: EVERTON 1-0 ARSENAL

Key action as Blues get the better of league leaders.