David Moyes has been handed Everton’s survival baton from Sean Dyche and grasped it with both hands.
Three games in and it’s clear, with some small positional changes, Moyes has begun to work his magic with successive wins. Against Brighton last weekend, Moyes deployed a mid-pitch road block, successfully slowing down the Seagulls attack and forcing them into wide positions.
Key to this was left winger Iliman Ndiaye, who tucked in centrally to sit alongside Everton’s deepest-lying midfielder Idrissa Gueye.
This allowed Orel Mangala to go and sit on Carlos Baleba, Brighton’s lynchpin, and Abdoulaye Doucoure to push up alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin, before he went off injured, to block their centre backs playing out.
From this disciplined approach, Ndiaye is now flourishing and he will be even more key against Leicester now that Calvert-Lewin is ruled out.
He’s doing much more defensively but also when he receives the ball in those central areas, he handles it expertly, often attracting two or three defenders before releasing it skilfully to a team-mate so they can break forward in numbers on the counter-attack with full back Vitalii Mykolenko bombing forward down the left.
David Moyes has made small tactical tweaks which have helped Everton significantly
Iliman Ndiaye has benefitted significantly from the disciplined approach adopted by Moyes
Jesper Lindstrom, rarely used under Sean Dyche, was excellent for Everton against Brighton
On the right, however, Moyes chose not to reflect the same pattern and went man-to-man to nullify Brighton’s dangerous left flank.
Jake O’Brien, now getting his chance under Moyes, marked one of the most dangerous wingers in the league in Kaoru Mitoma. And Jesper Lindstrom, rarely used under Dyche, never let full back Tariq Lamptey out of his sights.
After some early scares, with Lamptey flashing a ball across the front of goal, this tactic allowed Everton to keep a vice-like grip on the game.
Moyes, having just gone past 700 Premier League games, is looking more assured and calm on the touchline than he has in the past.
He understands what he sees in front of him and is always looking to make adjustments to secure a win.
Just after an hour, he opted to switch to a back three, introducing Nathan Patterson as a right wing-back and taking off the overworked Lindstrom.
In the opposite dugout on Saturday for Leicester is Ruud van Nistelrooy, only taking charge of his 13th Premier League game. I’ve had my run-ins with Van Nistelrooy in the past, as everyone knows, but I was impressed with how he conducted himself in front of the media during Leicester’s seven-game losing streak. He publicly remained calm and if he had any issues with his players, he kept them in the dressing room.
In his quest to stay up, he turned to Premier League experience for the win at Tottenham, using Jordan Ayew and Bobby De Cordova-Reid either side of the evergreen Jamie Vardy.
Orel Mangala being out for the rest of the season represents a significant blow for Everton
Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has remained calm despite his team’s struggles
Despite being 38 years old Jamie Vardy remains a hugely important player for Leicester
Vardy is the sole survivor from the team that won the Premier League, the club’s greatest achievement, and one of few left from their FA Cup triumph.
Had the club continued to progress on the same upward curve, he should surely now just be making cameos off the bench but Leicester are relying heavily on him still at the age of 38 — and he is still delivering.
This is a huge game, especially with Ipswich and Southampton playing each other. A win for Everton takes them nine points clear of Leicester.
But every time you think Everton are on an upward curve, something else conspires to bring them down. Not only have the Toffees lost Calvert-Lewin, key midfielder Mangala is now out for the remainder of the season.
It seems to be all par for the course for Everton managers in what must be the most turbulent time in the club’s history.
But if Moyes can mastermind another victory against Leicester, it will again breathe life into the ageing Goodison Park and take another huge step closer to securing their future for when they move into their new stadium on the banks of the Mersey.
