Adnan Januzaj can exploit Everton’s attacking full-backs

Adnan Januzaj

It’s no fluke that Everton have the league’s second-highest Attack Score (1,949 points). They may have scored more goals than only four of the teams in the league’s top ten (21)–none of whom have a potent attack–but they pose a serious threat going forward.

What’s more, they do so through more than one means: there’s Romelu Lukaku’s industry, movement, and power up top; the power and technical ability of Ross Barkley; the directness of Kevin Mirallas; the craft of Steven Pienaar; the speed, unpredictability and technical ability of loan signing Gerard Deulofeu.

There’s also the fact that both full-backs love to bomb forward. Fitting proof of this was conveniently provided just over the weekend as both Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines’ understudy Bryan Oviedo grabbed a goal apiece in the emphatic 4-0 home victory over Stoke City.

Needless to say, when full-backs bomb forward, they leave lots of space in behind them. If David Moyes is to exploit this space against his former side, when the Toffees pay Manchester United a visit at Old Trafford this Wednesday, then Adnan Januzaj must start on the left flank opposite Antonio Valencia or Nani on the right.

The spot on that left flank is very much up for grabs, with as many as five players–Januzaj, Nani, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, and Shinji Kagawa–featuring there on different occasions this season. In the weekend draw away to Tottenham Hotspur, it was Welbeck. Januzaj, however, is the only natural left-footer in the bunch.

Though he, like the other aforementioned players, likes to drift inside into central positions as well as towards the opposite flank, he remains the ideal candidate to stay on the outside and push to the byline in order to stretch the play and, in turn, Coleman. Valencia or Nani–whoever starts on the right–will certainly do this, which will be a test of just how solid a defender Oviedo is, seeing that the 4-0 win over Stoke at the weekend was his full Premier League debut.

To be fair to Coleman, he is a much-improved defender, exceptionally quick on the recovery, but with Januzaj as pacey, tricky, and unpredictable as he is, attempting an average of 3.6 take-ons per game thus far this season, the Irishman will have his hands full and would be wary of him exploiting the space he leaves behind when he gets forward.

The United youngster’s movement is impressive, and he creates pass-and-move combinations with team-mates at every opportunity. He would prove a thorn in Coleman’s side and would likely draw fouls from him in promising positions as a result, seeing that he can be quite clumsy in the challenge at times, particularly when he is rushing back on the recovery.

Every time Januzaj plays, he gives fans the feeling that something good will happen in the final third. Having not featured at all in the weekend draw with Spurs, it’s likely he may get a runout this Wednesday. Given the possible vulnerability at full-back and his unquestionable ability to exploit it, playing him could indeed prove a masterstroke from Moyes.