Double Everton transfer gamble vindicated as new heroes emerge after injury woe
Gueye again
Idrissa Gueye was the saviour for Everton having scored more goals over the past week than he netted across two of the three seasons in his first spell at the club.
For all the riches that the Blues have squandered under the current regime – prompting wantaway owner Farhad Moshiri to admit in the summer of 2022 that “we have not always spent large amounts of money wisely,” the club’s first director of football Steve Walsh’s identification of Gueye’s £7.1million release clause following Aston Villa’s relegation in 2016 proved to be one of their most-astute pieces of business. For all the Senegalese midfielder’s attributes as a fire-fighting anchor man par excellence though, shooting has never traditionally been an area of strength.
Gueye netted twice in his second season at Goodison Park in 2017/18 but either side of that he had just a solitary strike from the first and third campaigns of his first spell. A blank in front of goal last term ensured that he went two full seasons – three years apart given his time at Paris Saint-Germain in between, without scoring for Everton but that’s now changed under Sean Dyche.
Having broken his duck by coming off the bench and grabbing a late winner against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Armistice Day, the 34-year-old has now put the Blues on their way to a brace of crucial victories over the past week that sandwiched his immense Merseyside Derby performance. The goals might have dried up for Abdoulaye Doucoure since his hamstring injuries around the turn of the calendar year but having stepped up when it mattered, Gueye has now enjoyed his most-prolific season for Everton.
READ MORE: Everton player ratings as Idrissa Gueye colossal and three superb in Brentford win
Teenage kicks
While Gueye seems to have found the scoring touch in the autumn of his career, the burden of spearheading the attack fell on the shoulders of teenage striker Youssef Chermiti for this game but while he shares the height of his 6ft 4in compatriot Beto who was again ruled out of this fixture due to concussion protocols having been knocked out against Nottingham Forest, he does not possess the same degree of physicality.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin also offers that kind of threat while also offering a towering aerial presence but having worked miracles to come off his sick bed and seal the Merseyside Derby victory with a header in front of the Gwladys Street, Everton’s number nine was not available for this game either. So up stepped Chermiti for his big opportunity and the only time to date he has started a match other than a Carabao Cup tie at Doncaster Rovers in August.
The summer signing from Sporting CP had come off the bench on 14 occasions in the Premier League before Brentford but again, other than 24 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the first month, all his cameos have totalled little more than a single half of football. Here he was leading the line from the kick-off and while he attempted to impose himself on Brentford’s burly defenders, he got more joy from his subtler moments.
Keeping it clean
The fact that Everton were hit for six at Chelsea was so out of character has been highlighted by a hat-trick of subsequent clean sheets that have been the bedrock of the trio of victories.
Those shut outs have seen the Blues overtake reigning champions Manchester City and Newcastle United, two of the richest clubs in the world, in the clean sheet stakes with that pair on 10 apiece and Dyche’s men now up to a dozen. Considering they’re in the bottom half of the table, it’s a commendable total and only leaders Arsenal have more on 16.
Everton had shipped totals of 57 and 66 over the previous two seasons so with a current tally of 48 in the goals against column, that increased solidity is testament to the methods that the manager and his staff have implemented this term. England number one Jordan Pickford deserves much of the credit but he too was there for the preceding campaigns when the Blues were more open.
It’s been a group effort with the durable James Tarkowski now joined by breakthrough star Jarrad Branthwaite while this result was achieved without the injured Vitalii Mykolenko who is arguably the squad’s most-improved player. Right-back remains a movable feast but with natural choices Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson both injured, centre-back Ben Godfrey did an admirable job as a square peg in a round hole against the Bees.
What a week
If a week is a long time in politics, how about in football for Everton?
Following the painful capitulation at Stamford Bridge, difficult questions were being asked about both Dyche and his players but after some serious soul-searching at Finch Farm, they have responded emphatically. The Blues have now won more home games in April than they’d secured during the entire season before this month and three of those four successes came over the last seven days.
Given that confidence is so crucial in football, the game also remains deeply superstitious so having beaten Nottingham Forest and Liverpool after ditching his shirt and tie on matchday, it came as no surprise that Dyche once again donned his tracksuit for this encounter. One can only speculate on the number of individual routines among Evertonians that might have been repeated for the visit of Brentford after the Merseyside Derby but this correspondent is aware of at least one ‘good luck charm’ which has continued to be invoked.
Originally from Widnes, Everton super-fan Dr David France would often travel regularly from his home in North America to fixtures at Goodison Park but until this week, his last visit was for the game against Bournemouth on the final day of last season. Taking advantage of the quick-fire triple bill, the 75-year-old embarked on a mini-break from Arizona to Walton and is now heading back across the Atlantic Ocean with a 100% record.
When popping into the ECHO in between the games to record his Goodison Park: My Home video, ‘The Good Doctor’ revealed that it’s the people of ‘The People’s Club’ that he misses most about the old country and when being stopped several times by fellow Blues while on his way to the first of the three fixtures, he was given a piece of coal to rub to ensure fortune shined on the team. Perhaps this tiny piece of fossil fuel should be deposited under the pitch at the new stadium before he flies home?