After spending time as “best of the rest” in the WSL, Everton Women spent the summer of 2021 planning an assault on the top four as they looked to put themselves into a position where they could compete with those above them and maybe even fight for a Champions League place. An ambitious recruitment plan was put together to support this aim, with the club identifying and adding players that they felt would give them what they needed to achieve their goals. However, despite nine new players arriving at Walton Hall Park, the club’s aims were let down by their on-pitch form, as a disappointing start very quickly removed any hope of finishing higher than fifth and instead saw them drawn into a relegation battle.
Fast forward one year though, and Everton have made vast improvements and look like a different side. Under new permanent manager Brian Sørensen, who was appointed after leading Fortuna Hjørring to second in the Gjensidige Kvindeligaen last season, they have been playing with increased confidence and have won three of their first five league matches, meaning that they are currently fourth in the league, and this tactical analysis will look in more detail at exactly what has changed at the club this season and why Sørensen’s tactics have had such a positive impact. The scout report will focus specifically on his attacking and defensive ideas and will show why they have been working, but will also identify areas that they can continue to improve in as the season goes on.
Attack
When looking at Everton Women’s overall attacking play last season, it was clear that what they lacked was a killer threat at the top of the field, with them only finding the net on 18 occasions. Therefore, in order to avoid another relegation battle, it was imperative that Sørensen improve their final third play, both in terms of creating and of scoring goals.
The early signs in this regard have been positive, with it clear that the Dane has been trying to work on different aspects of their attacking play and to make them more clinical when they get into promising situations.
One of the ways in which he has corrected their previous issues is by modifying the wing-back system that they used last season, with their 5-4-1 now becoming a 3-4-3. What this has done is to push the wing-backs further up the pitch and to get them playing much more closely with the midfielders and forwards than the defenders, meaning that more forward passes can be made and their transitions can be more precise, with players in advanced areas that can be targeted, all of which has led to them increasing their passing accuracy this season by 3.7%.
