With Rafael Benitez sacked from his position as Everton boss and Marcel Brand’s departure as Director of Football, now is the time for billionaire owner Farhad Moshiri to select a manager that will blow away the Everton faithful.
With Everton’s frequently poor performances, the danger of relegation is an ever-growing threat to the Toffees, and now is the time for Moshiri to step up and make a marquee managerial statement.
Reviewing the structural issues that haunt the football club is imperative before any manager is appointed. With 6 years of poor managerial performances and half a billion pounds spent in transfers largely wasted, Moshiri must think long and hard about the clubs’ intentions moving forward.
Here, I will go over 3 of the most ambitious managerial appointments that could significantly change the fortunes of Everton Football Club.
Rudi Garcia
Everton’s attention has turned to the 57-year-old French football coach, who is currently out of work after resigning from Ligue 1 side Lyon at the end of last season.
Garcia’s success lies most notably in the French league, coaching Lille to a league title win in 2011, taking Marseille to the Europa League Final in 2018 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2020 with Lyon, beating Juventus and Manchester City.
Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas praised Garcia as “exceptional,” managing to command the respect of the dressing room while also being a strong motivator for his players, attributes the Toffees are crying out for.
Style of Play
Rudi’s philosophy amalgamates 3 decades of intensely studying the development of football tactics and techniques throughout Europe.
His time at Lyon saw him favour a 5-3-2 formation with the implementation of a high press and the encouragement of defenders to play an advanced role, opting for aggressive and hard-working players.
Playing on the counter-attack, Garcia’s teams look to dominate on the flanks, making for some exhilarating moments in the match. This could possibly be a perfect match up for full-backs Ben Godfrey and Nathan Patterson, who look to use their pace to get up the field.
Garcia also opts for 2 strikers to make the counter-attacking play more seamless. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison coming back from injury, now could be a great time to implement a more penetrative style of play.
Expectations
The Frenchmen may well look to add another fast winger and would surely be proactive in signing another centre-back to give the full-backs confidence to burst forward.
Niko Kovac
Departing from AS Monaco just 18 days ago, Kovac was praised for “doing an admirable job” for the Monégasques, winning 42 of his 74 games and leading Monaco to a 3rd place finish last season. Kovac also led the French outfit to the Coupe de France 2021 finals.
The Berlin-born Manager has also achieved great success in Germany, leading Bayern Munich to a domestic double, winning the league title and league cup in 2019. Kovac’s 2-year stint at Eintracht Frankfurt saw him beat Bayern Munich to win the DFB-Pokal final in 2018 and ensure a top-eight finish for the German side.
Kovac looks keen to work in the premier league and, with his managerial pedigree alone, could tempt the Toffees to take a chance on the Croatian.
Style of Play
Kovac plays a 3-2-4-1, attempting to make the opposition stay central to ensure there is always a free man on the flanks by rotating the centre backs to play out wide with 1 of the attackers dropping deep.
The Croatian emphasises positional play, favouring build-up from the back and creating width for the 2 wing players. players must be able to manage the intensity of his style of play whilst also successfully executing his desired tactics. Niko Kovac’s setup guarantees goals. Last season AS Monaco scored 76 goals, the 3rd highest in the league behind Lyon and PSG.
Kovac has been praised for continually giving opportunities to young players. With AS Monaco being the 3rd youngest team in Ligue 1 last season, it shows a manager willing to utilise youth players in his teams. With the likes of Lewis Dobbin, Anthony Gordon, Ellis Simms, Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Broadhead all showing glimpses of promise, Kovac may potentially be the man to take advantage of the young talent available.
Expectations
The expectation may be that Kovac would look to add a more technically gifted centre-half and for Abdoulaye Doucouré to be the one that drops back to achieve the desired results of Kovac’s tactics.
Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag is easily the most luxurious appointment on this list, being both a serial overachiever and an all-around nice guy.
With persistent interest from European super clubs such as Bayern Munich and Manchester United, Everton would be hard-pressed to complete such an ambitious managerial appointment.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have both expressed great admiration for the dutchman, with Guardiola labelling him “world-class.”
Style of Play
His unbelievable record at Ajax and implementation of ‘total football’ is what really sets him apart from the rest. Carving open the likes of Juventus and Real Madrid in the 2019 Champions League has put Ajax back on the football map of European giants.
His unwavering trust in youth has made the club a production line for European talent coming through the Ajax youth system.
Ten Hag mixes the positional play and encouragement of quick passing play developed by Manchester City boss Guardiola with a German-influenced hard press, making for a highly intense and physically demanding playing style.
His tactical flexibility could be perfect for Everton, with Ten Hag being championed for utilising a false 9 on many occasions, a style Richarlison may be well suited to.
Ten Hag is a devotee of the 4-3-3 formation, preferring overlapping full-backs and wingers who cut inside to take on shots. Demarai Gray may hugely benefit from a system that utilises his greatest attributes.
Expectations
The Dutchman would likely look to bolster his options in the middle of the park with a creative attacking midfield option and potentially a more adaptable winger to play on the opposite side to Demarai Gray.
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