Moyes must drop Everton flop who sprinted 1% of the time

Everton lost for the second match running in the Premier League as they were eased aside by champions Arsenal at The Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

Goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel secured all three points for the home side, who took the lead through the former in just the seventh minute of the game.

Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

David Moyes‘ side did not do enough with the ball to be able to claim that they should have got something out of the clash, as they failed to create more than 0.48 xG.

Arsenal had 12 more shots and twice as many ‘big chances’ than the Toffees, who were unable to get their best players, such as Tyrique George, into dangerous positions.

How Everton let Tyrique George down

The England U21 international has shown what he is capable of when put into threatening areas at the top end of the pitch this season, having scored a stunning goal in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

Unfortunately, though, the Toffees have not done enough to get the English forward into those areas on a consistent basis, because of their struggles in the build-up phase.

Too often, George is being given the ball in his own half and being asked to carry the ball and take players on to make things happen for himself, rather than his teammates building play to find him in positions in and around the box.

The 20-year-old talent only had 46 touches of the ball across the 90 minutes at The Emirates, and he had more dribbles and progressive carries than shots, which illustrates how much Everton rely on him to bring the ball forward.

REUTERS/Chris Radburn

George was not given the platform to truly shine against the champions because his teammates did not to do enough to put him in good positions, despite his own good work as a dribbler.

Left George fuming: Moyes must drop 4/10 Everton flop

As a result of this defeat to the Gunners, Moyes should drop one of the players who surely left George fuming with the lack of service he was given.

Vitaliy Mykolenko has started all seven of his appearances in the Premier League for the Toffees this season, but his lack of quality in possession is a cause for concern.

The Ukraine international, who came off with a knock in the 74th minute, ended the game against the Gunners without a single chance created and only 11 successful passes made in the opposition’s half.

There was one moment in particular in the first half when he had the ball near his own goal and had a chance to play a pass forward to George, but his touch let him down and the ball rolled out for an Arsenal corner.

Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

Noni Madueke, the Arsenal winger, did not apply too much pressure to force the mistake from the full-back, and was seen with a smile on his face after watching the error.

Mykolenko, who had the lowest time spent sprinting (1%) of all wide players on the pitch, showed a real lack of quality with the ball at his feet, which played a part in George not getting the ball in the positions that he needed it in order to thrive.

The fact that only 1% of his movements were sprints speaks to how little he made a push to get forward and support George down the left flank to cause the Gunners problems defensively.

Mykolenko only attempted one cross, which was unsuccessful, and did not create any chances or ‘big chances’ for his teammates, whilst he also did not complete a single progressive carry with the ball.

Those statistics should not come as a major surprise, though, because the full-back has only averaged 0.6 key passes per game in the Premier League this season, and is yet to create a single ‘big chance’.

In fact, Mykolenko’s last league assist for the Toffees came in a 2-1 win over Fulham in February, which means that he is closing in on nine months without an assist.

Everton do not have another natural left-back in the first-team squad, but Moyes could be creative and drop Mykolenko to play the left-footed Dewsbury-Hall in an inverted role, which would then free up a space in midfield.

The former Leicester star could play at left-back and allow Hayden Hackney or Tyler Dibling to come into the side as the attacking midfielder ahead of Garner and Armstrong.