Earlier today Everton drew 2-2 with Watford on the opening day of the Premier League season, with Arouna Kone the unlikely saviour- the Ivorian grabbed himself a goal and an assist at the perfect time, as his Everton career seemed to be over- but for me the main turning point wasn’t that Kone came off the bench, it was that he didn’t replace Romelu Lukaku but instead partnered the big Belgian, creating an attacking formation with two front men.
This tactic seemed to free up both Kone and Lukaku and in this article I am going to look at why playing two strikers is more effective and explore if and when Everton should use said formation.
There are many reasons why playing two strikers is an effective tactic, with the first one being it creates more space in the midfield; this can be a positive and a negative as if the opposition side can utilise the space better than Everton then they will be on the back foot and a strong defensive performance will be necessary however if Everton make the most of the extra space with clever passing and direct runs at the back line then they will be able to carve out some clear-cut chances.
Secondly when just playing with one striker Everton fail to hold the ball up in the final third as, despite Lukaku’s large size, he is usually marked by at least two defenders who have very similar frames to him. Similarly, with Kone he is usually crowded out before he gets chance to pick his head up or decide what he’s going to do next, so by playing two strikers both of them are subsequently provided with more space and only have to break away from one defender which in Lukaku’s case puts him in his element.
Furthermore, when Everton play with a lone striker long clearances often result in the opposition regaining possession as their defenders either win the first header or pick up the second ball due to the lack of support for the Everton front man, with two forwards the chances of picking up the second ball is greatly increased as a result of this the chances of scoring are significantly better as the amount of possession Everton have in the final third increases.
In conclusion, I think that Everton should adopt the two up front tactic more often as it usually helps improve their standard of football, however, they must be careful not to use it against teams with superior midfielders such as Arsenal and Chelsea as the risk of being overrun and outplayed is greatly increased against these types of sides.
@rosscummins98
