Tactics expert Adrian Clarke is analysing signings likely to transform their new teams' style of play.
After Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka, he looks at the impact Idrissa Gana Gueye, Everton's ball-winning midfielder, can make at Goodison Park.
Idrissa Gana Gueye
Everton were far too open last season.
Conceding 55 goals in 38 Premier League matches, they claimed three points coupled with a clean sheet on only six occasions, and four of those wins came against relegated sides.
Over the campaign they recorded just one 1-0 win.
Ronald Koeman, the new manager, is addressing this issue and his purchase of Idrissa Gana Gueye formed a key part of his thinking.
The industrious midfielder was second only to N’Golo Kante for winning tackles and interceptions last term. While he found it difficult to influence results at Aston Villa, the 26-year-old’s stats spoke volume.
Koeman identified that and on the back of three successive displays of note for Everton, Gueye’s partnership with Gareth Barry already looks more steadfast and balanced than any of the midfield pairs deployed by Roberto Martinez in 2015/16.
While it is not solely down to the midfield paring, it is perhaps no coincidence that Everton have let in only two goals in three matches.
Disciplined in their positioning, the two break up play and keep things simple with their distribution (Gueye has an 88.1% pass accuracy), laying a sturdy foundation for the attacking players in front of them to express themselves.
In each of Everton’s Premier League contests this season, Gueye has been their most efficient tackler, winning six each against Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City and four away to West Bromwich Albion. With 16, he leads the division's charts.
Mobile enough to move around the pitch, as the above touch map shows, the Senegal player is tenacious and hungry to prove he belongs in the top flight. This enthusiasm to defend takes a weight off of 35-year-old Barry’s shoulders, too.
This pair have the ingredients to help ensure Everton’s goals against column looks a little healthier this time around.
