James Garner carries weight of Everton net spend truth as Ben Godfrey does it again

Analysis from Chris Beesley after Everton's 0-0 draw at Fulham in the Premier League

Stuck in the middle

There’s been plenty of talk about Everton’s Financial Fair Play punishments and attempts – or not – to gain an on-pitch advantage through spending but after three seasons of being in the bottom three of the Premier League’s net spend tables, the Blues found themselves with just one recognised central midfielder in their starting line-up against Fulham.

Okay, the bundle of energy that is James Garner could be said to do the work of two men but it’s a far from ideal scenario to be going into away from home in world football’s toughest domestic division. With top scorer Abdoulaye Doucoure sidelined for what manager Sean Dyche now describes as a “longer term” issue (initially we were told it was fatigue) with what is a fresh hamstring problem, Amadou Onana joining him on the treatment table and Idrissa Gueye still not back from Africa Cup of Nations duty – at least holders Senegal’s penalty shoot-out exit to hosts Ivory Coast ensures he’ll now be able to return – Everton were down to the bare bones in the centre of the park.

Against Luton Town on Saturday, the Blues’ play largely bypassed the midfield but with that experiment of switching to a 4-4-2 formation proving to be unsuccessful, they reverted to their usual shape here. Winger Dwight McNeil – who has also deputised as a full-back when called upon by Dyche when options have been stretched – was the man who filled the void and while he is able to pick a pass, it’s not a natural role for him yet as always he made the switch with the minimum of fuss to help dig deep for his side.

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Godfrey on guard

With James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite the incumbent first choice centre-back partnership and Michael Keane, who started the season alongside Tarkowski, seemingly first reserve, Ben Godfrey has found opportunities in his favoured position few and far between this term but to his credit, he has now produced a couple of impressive displays when called upon to come in out from the cold.

Godfrey’s only previous outing was in Everton’s last Premier League win to date at Burnley on December 16 where he produced at least one crucial interception and he repeated the trick here with a timely challenge that showed his defensive instincts remain sharp even though he has hardly figured. Against the Clarets, the former Norwich City man was deployed as one of three central defenders but at Craven Cottage, despite having Nathan Patterson – who played against Luton Town and Ashley Young who was the first choice for most of the season until picking up an injury against Chelsea last month – he was asked to come in at right-back.

It was perhaps a daunting task but in the same manner as Godfrey rose to the occasion at Turf Moor where his late mistake had handed the hosts victory on Everton’s previous visit, here he exorcised the demons of his penultimate outing at right-back before Newcastle United, having been given the run-around by Willian in the 3-1 loss to Fulham at Goodison Park last April. The Yorkshireman, who turned 26 this month and has been linked with a potential exit in the January window, stuck to his task diligently though and showed why he remains a dependable option when required upon in this relatively paper-thin squad.

Striking the right balance

Everton haven’t scored twice in a game for the last nine matches since their last Premier League win at Burnley six weeks ago and have now drawn a blank in four of those fixtures but it’s not like they haven’t been carving out opportunities.

Online number-crunch Everton Statto has calculated that the Blues have had 45 shots from inside the box in their last six games but have failed to score any of them. They have also failed to convert any of their nine ‘big chances’ in those games, five of which were fashioned in this Fulham game alone.

Does this mean that Dyche’s side are going back to when their gaffer said they had “this bliss to miss” but acknowledged that he found their profligacy in front of goal early this season “unfathomable.” Let’s hope not but they could really do with one of these efforts going in as Beto – who has just one goal in the Premier League from 17 outings so far – and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has failed to find the net in 16 matches since becoming only the fourth ever Everton player to hit the 50-goal mark in the competition at West Ham United on October 29 could really with the boost that a timely strike would now provide.

Dan Dare

While both Calvert-Lewin and Beto went close to breaking the deadlock with headed chances in the second half, arguably the most-inviting opportunity of the evening for Everton fell to Arnaut Danjuma before the break.

The Netherlands international’s Blues career has been a curious one from the start. Originally set to arrive at Goodison Park in last year’s January transfer window, he instead chose to join Tottenham Hotspur after the Londoners hijacked the deal at the 11th hour and Danjuma is understood to have got off his Merseyside-bound train at Crewe and turned around. Opportunities in the capital were few and far between so when a second chance to join Everton came his way, this time the former Bournemouth man snapped it up.

However, not taking chances when they come his way has been a source of continued frustration for Evertonians with Danjuma. In a similar manner to his time with Spurs, the player has been left frustrated by his lack of minutes this term and has been heavily courted by French side Lyon during the January window.

Goodison Park chiefs insist he remains part of their plans and with just a couple of days now remaining before the deadline, he remains in place. You could see how eager he was to impress at Craven Cottage but when the goal gaped as he cut inside from the left on his favoured right foot, Danjuma’s effort was annoyingly off target and the miss summed up his nearly-man status so far before he eventually left the field injured in stoppage time which just increased the number of question marks around him.