Select Overall Final Numbers – Best/Worst
Here is a final look at some of the leading contributors for Everton this season, mixed in with a few that will be looking for improvement next year.
Best Passing % (+100 passes) – Rodwell 87%, Gibson 84%, Pienaar/Osman/Coleman 83%.
Worst Passing %  (+100 passes) – Anichebe 62%, Jelavic 69%, Distin 72%.
Best Crossing % (+30 crosses) – Bilyaletdinov 30%, Coleman 30%, Donovan 29%.
Worst Crossing % (+30 crosses) – Hibbert 20%, Pienaar 23%, Osman 24%.
Best Tackle % (+20 tackles) – Drenthe 88%, Fellaini 85%, Cahill 84%.
Worst Tackle % (+20 tackles) – Osman 69%, Pienaar 70%, Jagielka 71%.
Defensively is where Everton shone most this season. They were one of the most uncompromising units to face, shipped the third fewest goals, were the league’s best tacklers and only a handful of sides allowed their opposition fewer chances. Aptly, the main contenders for Player of the Season were all defensively-minded, with statistical marvels Baines and Fellaini narrowly missing out to the consistent excellence of Distin and Heitinga.
Yet as gritty as the defensive side was, the other half of Everton’s game fluctuated, thankfully ending on a high. Everton’s passing rose from 76% to 77%, but that was still only the joint 10th best percentage in the league, something Moyes will feel can be improved on. Elsewhere, the loss of Mikel Arteta and half a season without Steven Pienaar certainly had its repercussions. The Toffees carved out 41 fewer chances than last season (420 to 379) and until the turn of the year seemed far too predictable going forward, looking for Baines to cross at every opportunity – possibly a reason for the team’s crossing accuracy dropping from 26% to 24%, as teams were prepared for this.
One alarming facet of Everton’s game was their lack of penetrating through-balls. Steven Pienaar’s return drastically improved this, for before his arrival, there had been times when only Stoke City had achieved fewer through-balls than Everton. With Pienaar on board orchestrating things, the Toffees’ rose to eighth worst, yet a sobering fact is that Alex Song (with 24) still made more successful through-balls than the entire Everton squad put together (21). This is certainly an area that must be addressed this off-season.
What resurrected this faltering campaign more than anything else, and turned the season into a success, was undoubtedly an unusually fruitful January transfer window. Moyes’ purchases were inspired, with Pienaar, Gibson, Jelavic and Landon Donovan all making a huge impact. The composure, fluidity and scoring ability this foursome installed invigorated the dressing room, excited the fans and established some much needed momentum.
After finishing so well, the challenge is now to maintain that drive until next season. Moyes will have his hands full trying to keep the likes of Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini away from any interested admirers, whilst once again trying locate some cut-price talent to strengthen his squad. If he can successfully juggle that, if his squad is not too disrupted, and if the Toffees can for once start a season with just an ounce of momentum, it could end up being an exciting 12 months at Goodison Park.
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Categories: EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, Everton
Tags: Baines, Baines Stats, efc, EPL, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, Everton Stats, Fellaini, Fellaini Stats, JELAVIC, Jelavic Stats, MOYES, Opta Stats, PIENAAR, Pienaar stats
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Really good reading, Fellaini has quite incredible numbers – though stop highlighting it, he’ll go!
Haha, thanks Rob, they are very impressive. Very important Everton keep hold of him this summer, so crucial to their game.
IF everton cud ever start a season lik they finished one, they got get ionto the CL. sadly they will always be recovering from selling someone and buying noone in the summer
…and Lucas is a better tackler than Fellaini
Agree with you on the first part of your first point, and agree with you that Lucas is a good tackler, with excellent stats last year – you certainly missed him this season. However, for me, Fellaini is the better player, who at somepoint in his career will undoubtedly play for a top Champions League club.
Great read. Spot on about Fellaini as well. Whilst he is effective in midfield or the advanced role, we get the best of him in midfield. Our midfield loses something without him in it, it isn’t strong enough. With him and Gibson together, our CM pairing is balanced for the first time in years.
If we’re to have hopes of progressing next season, we need to find a player to fill the role behind Jelavic. Whether that is by someone here or a new signing; we’ll have to wait and see.
However, if we have real aspirations of improving, we need to put Fellaini back into CM and remove Neville from midfield. The captain is a good captain and is capable of playing well in midfield but, more often that not, the games passes him by. We need and should expect more from one of our central midfielders.
Thanks Luke, appreciate it. Thanks for the RT too. Yeah, I agree, very keen he sticks in the middle. A lot of the hype for him to move higher up the pitch was due to how well he played there in front of the cameras vs Man United. I was also frustrated at how quickly he was thrown up alongside Jelavic at 1-1 in the FA Cup semi, felt it really weakened our spine. He can great up there, but for me, he’s just too valuable in the middle. Certainly an attacking midfielder/second striker is the priority, with a winger perhaps – non-existing funds permitting of course!
I never understand it when Moyes moves him forward and Cahill into midfield. Tim Cahill has never been a CM and never will be. Yeah, Pienaar and a right winger have to be the priority. Osman or Barkley (if he develops) can fill the role behind Jelavic.