How Everton exposed Manchester United midfield misfits

Ross Barkley steals a march on Marouane Fellaini

Lambasted in the summer for transfer market failings, Manchester United manager David Moyes would have been ruing his failure to sign a truly top class midfielder as he watched his new side lose to his old side.

Everton’s first win at Old Trafford in 21 years showed just how far they have come, and just how far Moyes hasn’t. United lined up with a midfield two of Ryan Giggs and Marouane Fellaini that were outrun by their Everton counterparts.

Whilst Giggs and Fellaini had impressive pass accuracies and were tidy enough, they were lacking the punch that their Everton counterparts provided their team with. The immobile Giggs/Fellaini combination provided the team with only one key pass between them, whilst James McCarthy alone created three chances for Everton.

In the interests of balance, it should be noted that Fellaini actually achieved a credible Squawka Performance Score of 45 – equal to those of Gareth Barry and McCarthy combined. The Belgian performed better than many fans gave him credit for, whilst Ryan Giggs was also solid enough alongside him. Fellaini touched the ball more often than any other player on the pitch and was ensured that his presence was known with a mixture of interceptions, tackles and clearances totalling 9 defensive actions.

Fellaini’s Performance Score can in large part be attributed to the combination of defensive work and high pass accuracy. He made 62 of his 67 attempted passes – a success rate of 93% – whilst Giggs completed 91% of his passes next to him.

Despite this, midfield was an area where United lost the game in which they struggled to show the class of a side that last season won the league. Giggs and Fellaini were both solid enough individually, but as a midfield duo failed to provide the creativity and variety that United needed.

The issue was not so much one of individual performances, but of Moyes failing to set up a midfield with the required balance. Eyebrows were raised when United selected a midfield two that both lack mobility against an Everton midfield that boasts the youth and dynamism of McCarthy and Ross Barkley.

Such a midfield smacked of a manager used to keeping it tight and solid, rather than one at a club that are expected to dominate most of their games and so requiring the cute passes, spark and deft of touch that was lacking last night.

Giggs and Fellaini provided only one key pass between them last night, on a night in which Wayne Rooney was also unproductive in front of them as United huffed and puffed to no avail. Everton, on the other hand, boast a newfound attacking flair from midfield areas.

With Barry holding the fort in front of the back four, McCarthy provided three key passes for the team and Barkley two as Everton made 12 key passes to United’s 5. Despite Giggs and Fellaini making three more passes than the total of McCarthy and Barry, and at impressive percentages, they did very little with the ball when compared to their Everton counterparts.

These creative woes were made worse by the role of Gareth Barry in front of the Everton defence. Barry completed six clearances as Everton stood firm to restrict United’s chances. This provided a solid base for Everton to work the ball forward with pace and purpose. Giggs and Fellaini were often left chasing the shadows of McCarthy and Barkley, in a display that led Roberto Martinez to laud the “youthful arrogance” that runs through his side.

The tactics of Moyes’ midfield should also raise questions as well as the balance of it, given that he should know all about the threat posed by his old side. Whilst the Everton central midfield trio didn’t feature under Moyes, it is surprising that he chose not to bolster his midfield to cope with their threat.

Barkley played deeper and had more impact for Everton than his United counterpart Rooney, shown on their respective pass maps above, giving the away side the extra man on occasions as he linked up with the midfield.

If Rooney, as the deeper striker, and Barkley, playing off of Romelu Lukaku, are included then the Everton central trio made three more passes than the United three. For a side like Manchester United, at home to a supposedly inferior opponent, this will be likely to sound alarm bells.

Where Everton attacked from midfield in numbers and at pace, United’s pedestrian midfield pairing was overworked and sluggish – allowing Everton to regroup and get numbers behind the ball when needed. Martinez outwitted his predecessor, as Everton midfield numbers and balance helped them to a famous win.