No sooner had the ink dried on the surprise news that The Friedkin Group had not only come back to the table, but had quickly and efficiently agreed a deal to buy our beloved Blues, than journalists, keyboard warriors and “in-the-know” sources started speculating as to who would be their preferred manager to lead us into the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
To be fair, it’s not an enormous leap to make. New owners almost always seem to want to install their own people and Sean Dyche’s current contract runs out at the end of this season, with little to no discussion (publicly at least) about an extension. It seems like a situation in which two plus two just might equal four.
But that’s the point at which the bloggers-that-be seem to have parked their common sense at the door. Who could take the hot seat at Everton? Gareth Southgate, we were told. Lee Carsley, we were offered. And then the universal footballing sign that the bottom of the barrel is been well and truly scraped: The Special One’s name is linked to the job. Yawn…
But I thought that the time could be right – away from the knee-jerk “get him outs” of a bad result – to take a somewhat realistic look at just who may be the man (although, I personally wouldn’t mind Emma Hayes getting the job – talk about a club of firsts!) to lead us into our bright new future.
A few ground rules first, though. This is my article and so, for the purpose of this ToffeeWeb thought experiment, and in spite of previously arguing that Kevin Thelwell is actually doing a decent job, I’m making myself the Director of Football.
Like all good DoFs, I arrive with a “philosophy”. First, I want Dyche, Stone and Woan to finish out the season. I see them as pretty sure-fire ways to ensure we’re playing Premier League football next season. However, I’ll be looking to name the new head coach before the end of the season so there’s full transparency and they’ll have a full pre-season to work with the players. That’s the way the best and most successful managerial changes have always been conducted. No mid-season search for anyone who’s available.
Secondly, and most importantly, I am going to be very specific and targeted in my search. I believe that Everton football, at its very best, is hardworking, direct and pacey with a touch of skill. I think that we’ve spent a few seasons building a squad that matches that, as it’s (to some extent) in line with the type of football that Dyche wants to play.
I don’t think Everton is a tippy-tappy kind of club. If we look at superstar managers, we’re much more Simeone than Pep. Therefore, the likes of Graham Potter, Roberto de Zerbi and Brendan Rodgers (yes, I know) are off the list. Not because they’re bad managers but because they’re not Everton managers.
Given all of this, you might well ask why I’m not just keeping Dyche in situ. Well, in short, because I don’t believe that fast, direct, underdog football has to be this bad.
Of the 96 teams that make up the big five European leagues, only Empoli – a yo-yo club with a total squad value of around £60M – has less than Everton’s average of 38.4% possession. There’s a vast difference between direct, pacey counter-attacking and lumping the ball over Calvert-Lewin’s head every time you get the chance.
Dyche does a lot of things well behind the scenes but I would say there’s a pretty good argument to be made that Everton are currently the worst-coached team in the Premier League. Southampton make a lot of errors leading to goals, sure, but that’s because they’re trying to play a brand of intricate football that takes a high level of coaching. In fact, according to YouGov, fans consider Everton to play the least attractive football in the league. See, we’re not just a bunch of bitter cynics. It really is utter crap!
If we’re not the worst-coached team in the Premier League, Dyche is at least the most tactically naive manager in the top flight. Has he ever made a tactical tweak? Has he ever made a substitution to change the shape of the game, rather than just a like-for-like replacement? I honestly can’t think of one example.
Which brings me to my first two candidates…
Andoni Iraola and Thomas Frank
Bournemouth and Brentford fans might scoff at the idea that Everton could poach their head coaches, but let’s park that for a moment.
This amazing piece from The Analyst shows that, in terms of playing styles, both Bournemouth and Brentford play in quite a similar way to Everton. They defend the box in a similar way and, most importantly, all three teams attack at speed with minimal passes per sequence (ie, they’re direct). For context, Man City, who are slow and methodical in possession, are at the opposite end of this scale. See what I mean? Pep doesn’t play Everton football…
However, Bournemouth tend to create more width and Brentford squeeze more players up in support of their forwards when they attack. While Everton’s defensive solidity is all about “Parking the bus”, Bournemouth do it to create space for fast wide players, whereas Brentford’s defensive position is deep as an attacking tactic for baiting the press, as this graphic from Analytics FC clearly shows.
From their complex pressing traps, Brentford’s set-piece excellence and Frank’s ability to swap between formations depending on the opposition, to Iraola’s ability to make tweaks that swing games in his team’s favour, both managers are clearly huge tactical upgrades on Dyche while not representing a complete sea-change in styles.
Could we get them? More budget, shiny new stadium, potentially higher ceiling… were I called Friedkin, I’d certainly be making a call at least. And if I couldn’t get one of these gents, I might drop down a tier…
Carlos Corberán
Other managers have taken plaudits for leading Championship teams to the glory and riches of the Premier League but Corberán has taken two struggling teams (Huddersfield and West Brom) and turned around their fortunes on a limited budget. I’d say there’s an argument to be made that West Brom often look like the best-coached team in the Championship and they currently find themselves in 5th. And that’s with Mason Holgate in their team!
Bielsa disciple Corborán, just 41, builds teams on a solid defense first and has a track record of picking up good young players, also generally improving players. Although potentially slightly more possession-based than the coaches above, he’s also a pragmatist and is happy to concede possession and attack through the wings as the players he has available and the opposition he’s playing demand. In that way, I’d liken him to Iraola.
The next time a mid- to lower-Premier League job comes available, you can guarantee Corborán’s name will be mentioned. So far, nobody has pulled the trigger (though Leicester City came close), but maybe Everton will be the team to give him that chance.
But if we’re feeling a bit more adventurous? Maybe we’ll buck recent trends, get “a bit Brighton” and look a little further afield than the usual “British-based with Premier League experience” mandate that’s served us so well until now.
A German, a Spaniard and an Italian walk into a bar…
Hopefully, this isn’t just the set-up to a 90s joke, but an insight into what the Everton interview process might look like.
If we’re looking for evolution over revolution, a similar style of football but with a touch more attack and a little extra tactical nuance, then we could do worse than 50-year-old German manager Frank Schmidt. Schmidt has been coach of Heidenheim for 17 seasons now. He is Mr Heidenheim. Affable, personable, inspiring, he’s the kind of coach that players would run through a proverbial brick wall for.
But that undersells his credentials as a coach. For most of their history, Heidenheim have floated around the lower leagues. That Schmidt has his team of mostly unfancied players 10th in the Bundesliga is a footballing miracle. Could he do the same elsewhere?
For many European football fans, the 59-year-old Villarreal manager Marcelino is one of the best coaches never to have plied his trade in the Premier League. He’s a brilliant tactician who demands extreme physical conditioning and hard work from his players. Marcelino’s teams are defensively compact and happy to absorb pressure but they explode on the transition and score some breathtaking counter-attacking goals. However rapid, those attacks are well choreographed and planned to take advantage of opponents’ weaknesses.
Unlike Everton’s current passive, long-ball approach to defence and counter-attacking, Marcelino’s teams don’t actually concede huge amounts of possession as they often turn the ball over quickly and high up the pitch. They’re also capable of taking the sting out of games, as proven by their current position of 3rd in La Liga with an average of 45% possession. Pipe dream, maybe, but I think Marcelino would be Everton’s Unai Emery – a truly transformational figure – if he could be convinced to swap Castellón for Crosby.
What about a more realistic proposition? An ambitious young tactically astute manager who could be convinced to leave their current role for a stab at the big time with Everton? Step forward Genoa’s 42-year-old manager Alberto Gilardino.
The former Italy international led Genoa from Serie B to Serie A in 2022-23 and somehow managed to keep them in the top league the following season. Admittedly, Genoa are struggling a little this season but they have a total squad value of just €144M, which is just a shade more than what Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez! Their all-time transfer record is €14M.
Excellent in the transition, Gilardino actually had Genoa playing a much more possession-based brand of football when they dominated Serie B, but converted to a more transitional press-baiting style in Serie A, showing admirable pragmatism and a tactical flexibility that could be extremely useful in helping Everton to evolve. He also tends to line up in Dyche’s favored 4-2-3-1 formation, so, again, he could represent the best kind of upgraded continuation. Could we get him? I think so.
The wildcard
Speaking of taking a punt on a tactically versatile coach, I’d like to throw Will Still into the mix. Despite his not-actually-true Football Manager backstory and the sadly-actually-true fact that I have pairs of underpants older than him, the 32-year-old Lens manager is almost certain to get a bigger job one day.
Philosophically, he’s the most possession-hungry of all the coaches mentioned here. His teams tend to build up more from the back, with the goalkeeper dropping into the back line to make the extra man – a role that would actually, you’d think, suit Jordan Pickford.
His teams press high and get players further up the pitch which can often lead to a 5-man attacking line. After so many seasons of seeing a 0-man attack or Calvert-Lewin so isolated that the only way he can ask for the ball is by sending a WhatsApp message, watching five Everton players lay siege to an opposition goal would have heads exploding all over the new stadium.
However, in his young career so far, Still has shown himself to be tactically astute and also somewhat more pragmatic than, say, Vincent Kompany in terms of his footballing philosophy. He’d need to be backed by good recruitment and there’d certainly be some teething problems, but it’d signal a fresh and exciting new approach at Everton were he appointed.
So what do you think? Will Dyche be the man in those fancy new F1 driver dugouts that all new stadiums seem to have, or will there be a new man leading us into the Toyota Dome?
Will the Friedkins (or even our Kev, if he’s still in situ) take a chance on any of these names, or will it just be another uninspiringly obvious appointment of whoever happens to be on the dole (or Monday Night Football) at that point in time? Should we already start work on the “Welcome to Everton, Gary O’Neil” banners or do we at least wait for Wolves to sack him first?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on who should be in charge of the mighty Blues and what you think about my suggestions? Did I get the DoF job on a permanent basis or my P45?
