Blues Boss Ponders January Additions

Everton manager Sam Allardyce will look to strengthen his squad in January in order to build on the defensive improvements the team have made.

The Blues boss admits there is work to be done on the Toffees attacking threat and has already disclosed his desire to land a frontman next month.

Allardyce has hinted that he would ideally like to add further reinforcements to his squad during the winter transfer window, but insisted that any new faces would have to improve on what he already has available to him.

“If the players are available then three would be the maximum I would like to bring in,” he said. “That would give us a chance to sustain our position and maybe touch on doing better. 

“I’m only interested in players that are better than what I have already got. It may turn out that we get very few players because of that. This is Everton Football Club and what people expect from Everton Football Club means I have to get better players than I already have.

“By the end of January, I will have a better idea of not only the squad in total and whether I have had to move anyone on, but also the consistency of the group in terms of its performance.”

Under Allardyce, the Blues have been a much stronger defensive outfit, conceding just twice in their last eight games. 

But with the team unable to find the target in their previous two games – 0-0 draws with Chelsea and West Brom – Allardyce wants more from his charges when attacking, something he could look to address in January.

“At the moment, we are consistently defending well, but not attacking well when we are in possession,” he added. “I feel the problem with the players is their ability to carry out the transition correctly. That is the reverse of when I came in. 

“When I arrived, we played out from the back and through midfield, but when we lost the ball, it ended up in a goal. When they team went into transition, they couldn’t defend properly. You could see that in the 25 goals conceded in the eight games before I got here. 

“Now it’s the reverse – we are defending superbly but in transition we can’t get the ball into good passing opportunities to get at the opposition and create more chances.”