Everton 1-0 Chelsea: Martinez outfoxes Mourinho in battle of wits

Steven Naismith of Everton celebrates wit his team-mates after scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park

Everton pulled off a stunning victory over a profligate Chelsea at Goodison Park after some intense, positive, attacking football from both sides. While the first match of the day between Manchester United and Crystal Palace was at its boring best, this encounter on the other side of the river was miles better in terms of entertainment.

Roberto Martinez was known as a manager with a tactical vision, but what he did with Wigan didn’t warrant him enough credit. Now, at Everton, he has a much better to team at his disposal and has not disappointed one little bit with that tactical acumen of his against Chelsea.

Everton (4-2-3-1) : Howard – Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Coleman – Barry, Osman – Barkley, Mirallas, Naismith – Jelavic

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) : Cech – Cole, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic – Mikel Ramires – Schurrle, Hazard, Mata – Eto’o

First Half

Both teams were set up in similar formations, the 4-2-3-1. Juan Mata was in the starting XI for Chelsea, which was only his second start this season.

Andre Schurrle and Eden Hazard flanked the Spaniard and new man, Samuel Eto’o was preferred over Fernando Torres upfront.

Frank Lampard was restricted to the bench as John Obi Mikel made his first start of the season beside the Brazilian Ramires. David Luiz partnered John Terry in defense, with Ivanovic and Cole flanking them in fullback positions.

Roberto Martinez didn’t have Steven Pienaar, Arouna Kone and Darren Gibson for selection as all three were injured, and Lukaku was not eligible to play against his parent club.

The major change for Everton was in the midfield. With Fellaini moving to Manchester United, deadline day signing Gareth Barry slotted beside Leon Osman, a partnership which proved vital for the Toffees win. Steven Naismith was given a start on the left flank, with the impressive youngster Ross Barkley playing as a No.10.

This match was all about discipline for Everton, both in terms of position and tactics. Chelsea was more determined to get that opening goal and stamp their authority on the match. Both teams were playing good passing football when they had the ball and it was end to end stuff for most of the half.

Chelsea had more possession and scoring chances, but were wasteful in front of goal with Eto’o firing blanks. The Cameroonian was not in the same rhythm as his team and was late to react on many occasions. With Chelsea dominating the play, Everton had to stay compact and were forced into their half for most of the first period.

Everton Attacking Shape

The most interesting feature of Everton’s formation was the way it transformed from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 when they had possession. The major source of attack for Everton were the flanks with Coleman and Baines partnering Naismith and Mirallas to double up the Chelsea fullbacks.

The Everton fullbacks became wingbacks as Gareth Barry dropped deep between Jagielka and Distin to make a three-man backline, thus providing an extra man in attack. Ross Barkley compensated for the lost body in the middle by dropping a bit deep.

Mirallas and Naismith moved into central positions in attack keeping Mikel and Ramires occupied as Baines and Coleman tried to bomb forward. Coleman was the more successful of the fullback duo as Baines was dealing with the overload created by Ramires on his wing.

Chelsea Attacking Shape

Chelsea were more actively involved in attacking play and passed the ball around better, exerting pressure majorly through the right wing. Everton defended in numbers as Jelavic and Mirallas were left chasing the Chelsea players.

The combination of Coleman and Naismith were keeping Eden Hazard at bay on the their flank and this forced Chelsea to move the play to the other side. This effectively reduced the tempo of Chelsea’s game as they stared at a barrage of Everton players defending deep.

Ashley Cole didn’t get into the game much and chose not to attack often. There were a few good chances for Chelsea. The easiest one fell for Eto’o, who failed to put the ball in an open net as Barry came across to tackle hard after a howler from Howard.

Apart from that, all other shots on target were saved comfortably. Chelsea’s crossing was poor and Eto’o was easy to contain for the towering duo of Jagielka and Distin.

Everton’s best chances came on the counter and most of those were from the right flank. Eden Hazard’s limited defensive abilities were were not helping Ashley Cole as he was dealing with constant overloads when Everton had the ball. The goal, which came on the stroke of halftime was from the right wing of Everton. A mistake from Ramires in his own half led to the goal and Jose Mourinho was not a happy man walking down the tunnel for his halftime talk.

Second Half

Conceding a goal just before half time was like a punch in the face, as Chelsea dominated most of the first half and a minor error led to the goal. It goes on to show the fine lines between goal and no goal. Mourinho surely would have given a rousing pep talk during the break as the Chelsea team that came out for the second half was in an overdrive mode, pressing rapidly and hassling Everton into conceding possession. By the look of things, it was clear that the plan was to score a goal in the opening ten minutes of the second half. Everton were able to hold back the waves of attack and Mourinho was forced to change to Plan B.

This second half was a brilliant example of reactive and adaptable football. Mourinho’s changes prompted Martinez to react and plan counter-measures.

With the initial plan not yielding any fruit, Mourinho sent on Oscar and Lampard for Mata and Schurrle on the 57th minute mark. Oscar was a direct swap while Lampard settled beside Mikel and Ramires moved to the right wing. Oscar and Hazard were tremendous in the opening games of the season and they recreated that fluid, intricate football again.

Chelsea pushed on for the goal by overloading the center of the pitch. All of Hazard, Oscar, Ramires and Eto’o were outnumbering Barry and Osman just ahead of the Everton defense. The 10 minutes that followed saw Chelsea dominate the ball but the resilience of the Everton back 4 helped the Toffees to stay in the game.

Roberto Martinez reacted by bringing on midfielder, James McCarthy for a striker, Nikica Jelavic on the 66th-minute mark. This substitution added an extra number in the midfield for Everton and Chelsea was nullified again. Kevin Mirallas moved upfront to occupy the striking position. The Everton formation changed to a 4-5-1, with a flat midfield 5, defending deep in their half.

Chelsea now didn’t need many bodies in defense as Mirallas was the only one operating in advanced position for Everton. Mourinho responded almost immediately by bringing on Fernando Torres for Ashley Cole.

Chelsea shifted to the 3 and half backline with Ramires playing as half-fullback half-winger, the wingback. The formation resembled more of a hybrid between a 4-2-4 and a 3-3-4.

Mourinho’s men threw everything at Everton but they were not able to breach the tight spaces between the lines. This strategy from Mourinho was highly risky as they didn’t have enough players to defend the Everton counter attacks. Chelsea lost the ball numerous times in compromising positions and only some luck coupled with well-timed tackles kept them in the game.

Mirallas was creating havoc, taking on Luiz and Terry on counters. One such incident prompted Luiz to foul the Belgian on the half way line when he was almost through on goal. Luiz was fortunate to escape with a yellow.

Mourinho used the same hybrid formation during his time at Real Madrid. Only now, it seemed that the Spanish team was the only one to excel with such a setup. The present Chelsea team were playing it for the first time and clearly they were not good. There was no fixed shape in which they were operating but once they lost possession, it seemed as though every player was scattered.

Everton were able to stitch simple passes comfortably in the Chelsea half, forcing the Londoners to retort to rash tackles. A flurry of yellow cards later, Martinez opted to use his remaining subs.

Defender John Stones came on for Steven Naismith and striker Gerard Deulofeu came on for a tired Mirallas. Everton were now in a 5-4-1 shape, which pretty much guaranteed the first win for Roberto Martinez as the Everton manager.

Statistics

The following graphic shows a brief statistical summary of the match.

Match StatisticsSource: Squawka.com

Chelsea had a total of 22 shots of which 6 of them were on target. Everton had 11 shots of which 5 were on target.

Total ShotsSource: Squawka.com

Conclusion

It was a hard lesson for Jose Mourinho as he tasted his first defeat of the League campaign. This Chelsea team falls short in certain minor aspects of the game. The questions on their frontman still linger and the need for a complete midfielder grows after every match. Chelsea, though they played good, attacking football, lacked decisiveness and squandered many chances. 22 shots and no goal highlights the need for a good striker.

The Everton players were determined, played their hearts out, stuck to the plan laid by their manager and executed it with precision.

Goodison Park will not be an easy place to visit this season, given Lukaku, Deulofeu and Pienaar didn’t feature in this match. Roberto Martinez is improving his credibility as a tactical manager and once he manages to integrate Lukaku into his system, goals and wins will follow.

Gareth Barry, Leon Osman and Steven Naismith were the key players for Everton and are the contenders for the Man of the Match award. While the goal from Naismith is important, the strong and steely presence of Barry was crucial for Everton to play with confidence.

Man of the Match: Gareth Barry