Everton icon Kevin Campbell has questioned if Marco Silva’s tactics need to be adapted, in order for the Toffees to start scoring frequently in the Premier League.
We currently boast one of the worst offences in the top-flight for goals scored, with Silva’s men only able to find the back of the net on 13 occasions in the 12 games played thus far.
Only Watford, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Norwich and Newcastle United have scored fewer goals than we have so far managed, while we had fired home 19 at this stage of the season last year.
We do not have a flurry of free-scoring strikers at present, either, with Richarlison (3), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (3) and Bernard (2) the only players to have fired home more than once in the league.
Beyond the trio, our remaining four goals have come from Cenk Tosun, Alex Iwobi, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies, while our £27.5million summer signing Moise Kean is yet to get off the mark.
Campbell is not 100 per cent convinced that our poor record in front of the goal is down to our strikers alone, though, as the issue could rather stem from the chances being created.
“You need to create more chances, you need chances to be able to score,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“There is no team that has a 100% success rate of scoring chances. So is it that Everton aren’t creating chances or is it the strikers not being as prolific as they were?
“If it’s the latter, you know at some stage that is going to turn around. You want the team to keep doing the same things and you know the ratio of taking your chances will go up.
“If it’s the former and you’re not creating enough chances, then you really have to look at tinkering with your team. If you’re not creating enough and you’re struggling, you’re not going to win games.”
Does Silva need to change his tactics?
Yes
No
Lucas Digne has currently registered the most assists in the Premier League among the Everton first-team with three, to Richarlison and Mason Holgate’s two, and Djibril Sidibe, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Theo Walcott, Seamus Coleman and Kean on one, per Sofa Score figures.
Beyond those, however, there have not been many more big chances created, with Digne only fashioning one clear chance to score that has not been converted, along with Richarlison having two, Sigurdsson three, Kean two, Sidibe one and Coleman one.
Campbell’s suggestion that the issues with our end product may not solely be down to the strikers, then, has merit, and Silva may have to tweak his tactics to create more chances going forward.