Everton, under Sean Dyche’s leadership, have not been the most tactically diverse side.
He has a plan A, which is often very remedial, and beyond that there is little else in his repertoire.
Still a well-respected coach, his teams are set up to defend first, with the hope of scoring more of an afterthought.
That very nearly plagued them last night, when Fulham broke the deadlock and seemed destined to score their easiest win in recent years.
Alas, a last-minute change from the Everton manager sparked the comeback, and an equaliser saw the spoils shared.
One pundit has now called for Dyche to persist with this tactical tweak.
Jamie Redknapp calls for Sean Dyche to make Everton change
Speaking to Sky Sports just last night after the match, Jamie Redknapp claimed: ‘Well Dominic’s done well in the games when they’ve picked up some form as well so, it wasn’t his best day today by any stretch of the imagination. Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be the first to admit that, he didn’t get a lot of quality up to him. It wasn’t one of his best days.
‘But when a player comes on, all you can ask is for him [Beto] to do that, to make a difference, ask a question of the manager. Give him a problem for next week.
‘I still think sometimes there is a case to say ‘Let’s put two up there.’ Because you imagine the two of them together… defenders don’t know how to defend against big strikers. We saw it yesterday with Chris Wood.
‘It is such a handful because everybody now, normally number nine’s are coming short. But if we see the bigger guy that comes in and makes a real nuisance of himself, and they struggled with his physicality second half for that ten minutes.’
This came after Beto gave an emotional interview following the match after scoring, which could see him replace Dominic Calvert-Lewin going forwards.
Would Everton suit playing a 4-4-2?
Whilst Dyche is seen as closely associated with the 4-4-2 formation, having utilised it to great effect during his Burnley days, it has been far less prevalent during his tenure at Everton.
Whether that be simply due to his evolution as a coach, or not having the right personnel, only a handful of times has it been dragged out.
And, most of the time, it has not worked as planned.
During their clash with Luton Town last season in the FA Cup, that system was trialled with Beto and Calvert-Lewin up front, and it struggled.
The team looked disjointed and without instruction, resorting to hopeless punts down the middle of the pitch which often ran through to the goalkeeper.
If done well, 4-4-2 certainly still has a place in the modern game.
However, Dyche must ensure that his team is well prepared to enact a plan to perfection, if he is to heed Redknapp’s advice.
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