January’s loss of Steven Pienaar to Tottenham has presented David Moyes with something of a conundrum; given that the club’s well-known financial problems are limiting player acquisitions, who -within his current playing staff- is best suited to take over that left midfield slot so previously well-suited to the South African?
Everton’s last three league games have seen Moyes try a different solution each time: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in a 2-0 defeat away to Bolton, Leon Osman in the 2-0 home win over Sunderland and, last Saturday, Mikel Arteta stepped into the breach for the club’s 2-1 win at Newcastle. Having had a fairly indifferent season this time round, Arteta really looked the part playing in front of Leighton Baines on the left flank, and it will be intriguing to see if he keeps his place there or whether Moyes moves him back to his usual, deeper, central midfield berth.
With Baines driving forward from left-back, the left midfield position is afforded more attacking license than perhaps any slot across the Everton midfield and a player of Arteta’s intelligence can really utilise this to great effect. As this “Average Position” map shows, Arteta (10) was actually playing further forward than any starting Everton player at the weekend, ahead of Louis Saha (8) and Jermaine Beckford (16).
Compare that to the previous game, where Arteta played in the centre of midfield. This “Average Position” map shows him inside his own half, playing deeper than Phil Neville (18), the right-back. Not what they need from their most creative player, really.
These Passing Heatmaps illustrate just how different Arteta’s role was on Saturday compared to the previous game at Goodison. Although he made more passes in the centre of midfield than out left (53 compared to 43), Arteta played a huge 43% of them inside his own half against Sunderland, with 24% coming in the final third of the pitch. Compare that to the Newcastle game, where a mere 19% of his passes came in the Everton half and a whopping 49% in the final third, and it’s fair to say that this role clearly suits his attacking sensibilities far greater and makes Everton more of a threat overall.
Finally, a look at the Everton pattern of distribution over the past two games. A glance at the Average Position maps above show that Osman’s (21) position against Sunderland was similar to Arteta’s in the Newcastle game, but these Passing Heatmaps show a distinct difference in the team’s passing in the two games:
Down the left flank in the Sunderland game, Everton made 14% of all passes inside their own half. Against Newcastle, this figure dropped down to 8%, and, as the Average Position maps above show, Baines was able to play further forward as a result, which suggests that playing Arteta in left midfield is also beneficial to him, too.
In the two zones just over the halfway line on each flank, the percentages are revealing. The Sunderland game saw Everton make 8% (5 + 3) of all passes there and 13% (8+5) of all passes in the two zones on the right, but at St James’ Park, there was a marked difference; the left side doubled to 16% (7+9), while the passes on the right dropped to less than a third, down to 4% (2+2).
All in all, Arteta looked reinvigorated at the weekend. If Moyes keeps him in this new position, it’s great news for those eyeing him up with Everton’s kind upcoming run of games on the horizon (FUL, AVL, wol, BLA, mun, wig ). Those Fantasy Managers who currently have him can watch on in anticipation as Everton host Birmingham tonight in the second part of their double gameweek, hoping for more of the same. For those who don’t have him, it’s a case of holding their breath and hoping his contribution is minimal and that Saturday’s events were a one-off.
