The concerning underlying data that Everton must address next season

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It does not require a deep dive to assess Everton’s areas for improvement next season, with the optics obvious for those who watched David Moyes’s men with regularity last season.

The implosion of the club’s European chase saw familiar flaws exposed, with shortcomings in both boxes, ageing personnel, and goalscoring woes all evident. But with the dust settled on the season gone, I thought I’d assess the data of the 2025-26 campaign.

What offers encouragement? And, crucially, what are the clearest areas for improvement? The latter, in particular, shone a spotlight on some concerning numbers that need addressing.

A lack of goal threat continues to haunt Everton

Everton’s lack of a reliable goalscorer has been a well-documented issue. Just five teams scored fewer goals than the Toffees last season, three of which were relegated. It’s been a recurring theme, with Everton ranking in the bottom four teams for goals scored in each of the previous three Premier League campaigns.

It’s been four seasons since Everton had a player reach double figures for Premier League goals, with Richarlison last to achieve that feat in 2021-22 (10). Not since Romelu Lukaku in 2016-17 have the Blues had a forward who has reached 20 in a single campaign.

While both Beto and Thierno Barry have faced their fair share of criticism this season, both produced respectable minute-per-goal numbers, amid shared minutes. Beto averaged a goal every 174 minutes, a rate better than either Ollie Watkins or Joao Pedro (178 minutes per goal). Barry scored, on average, every 239 minutes, comparable to Bryan Mbeumo (238).

Neither is likely to be the long-term solution, but Everton’s issues stretch further than their forwards. Only Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (8) and Iliman Ndiaye (6) managed more than five Premier League goals.

Everton were not among the most wasteful sides in the Premier League, boasting almost identical xG to goals scored data. However, chance creation was a big issue. Only six teams created a lower xG than the Blues. Among the teams to avoid relegation, only Fulham and Sunderland created fewer 'big chances'.

Moyes must fix the muddled out-of-possession plan

There has rarely been more emphasis on out-of-possession work than right now. Anthony Gordon’s £69M move to Barcelona is the latest prime example. The 25-year-old can flatter to deceive when it comes to attacking output, but statistically ranks among Europe’s leading forwards for defensive work. It’s enough to have earned him a high-profile transfer to Catalonia, as Hansi Flick follows the school of thought that a well-implemented press trumps any playmaker when it comes to disrupting defences.

A scan of Everton’s out-of-possession numbers contains a curious quirk. Everton, at surface level, are among the Premier League leaders for various pressing statistics.

Only Manchester City and Brighton had a higher number of press sequences, defined by Opta as ‘passages of play where a defending team applies physical or spatial pressure to force an opposition team's passing sequence to end’. Furthermore, Everton ranked fourth for high turnovers, the number one statistic for high-pressing teams.

All positive, until we dig deeper.

When assessing Everton’s ‘Passes Per Defensive Action’, the Toffees plummet to 16th in the Premier League. Essentially, Everton’s pressing volume is so high because the Blues are surrendering so much possession.

Opposition teams are actually being allowed a high number of passes between each pressing action. Whether this is an intentional defensive tactical plan, or a direct result of the team’s low possession, it’s evidence of a lack of athleticism and, ultimately, intensity. Across Europe's top-five leagues, Everton posted some of the lowest numbers for percentage of time sprinting in and out of possession. It's often said "let the ball do the work" — something Everton have struggled with, and the numbers reflect it.

Everton are also guilty of squandering their turnovers. Though the Toffees rank fifth in the Premier League for regaining possession in high areas of the pitch, it has failed to result in chances. Their numbers for turnovers leading to goals (4) and shots (13.33%) are among the worst in the Premier League.

Left-sided bias shows how badly Everton need a new right flank

What was obvious watching Everton last season was the lack of genuine footballers in the side. For a side operating at the top tier of English football, there was a concerning lack of comfort in possession.

Only the three relegated teams had a lower average possession than Everton (43.7%) in 2025-26, while only Wolves mustered fewer sequences of 10 passes or more. Everton are not a side that dictates the game.

Those issues are amplified by a lack of natural right-sided players. The Jake O’Brien experiment has gone on far too long at right-back, while Everton experimented with various right-wing options without truly fulfilling the role. The numbers show a team with an aversion to exploring that channel.

Only Sunderland played a lower percentage of their passes to the right-hand side of the pitch than Everton (22.9%), an issue which created predictability in the Blues’ build-up.

Blues’ backline was fortunate in 2025-26 — it’s time to replace the old guard

One of the biggest frustrations of Everton’s run-in collapse was a failure to change a defence that continued to be exposed.

Jarrad Branthwaite was badly missed, with James Tarkowski and Michael Keane struggling at centre-back. Everton failed to keep a clean sheet as the season concluded with a seven-game winless run, though that’s not a statistic that should surprise.

Only three teams conceded more shots on goal than Everton in 2025-26, while only Manchester City had a larger positive gap between Expected Goals Against (xGA) and actual goals conceded.

On that metric, Everton conceded 6.51 goals fewer than would reasonably be expected to concede, based on the quality of the opposition side’s chances. Those numbers caught up with the club across the run-in.

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For me, the chance creation statistic is the most damming. We can bemoan the quality of our strikers, but the service had to be there.

The lack of pace is one aspect. It would also be interesting to see chance creation stats before and after Grealish's injury.

John Pickles 4 Posted 04/06/2026 at 10:01:47

Our passing is very poor, too many of our passes and headers are to nobody. If you take out the simple, not-under-pressure passes, then we must concede possession more than just about any other team.

Some players are just not good at finding a team mate with the ball; Tarkowski is the worst culprit, Barry is poor, Iroegbunam and Beto not much better.

Hopefully, a season with a lot more of the ball should have done O'Brien a world of good. If we can pair him alongside Branthwaite, who is excellent with the ball, we should improve a lot.

I think a lot of our inability to create chances is because we are too static. If more players ran into space, to either receive the ball or to create gaps for other players, we would create more chances.

Compare the movement of the players in the Chelsea home match to the Sunderland fiasco and there was a world of difference.

End of the day, we had the 12th-14th ranked club in the Premier League last season and we finished 13th, so it's up to TFG to bring in better quality players, we all know what we need. That has the potential to greatly improve all of these stats.

Dave Abrahams 5 Posted 04/06/2026 at 10:05:36

Harry (3),

Yes, have a real good look at those chances. No disrespect to you, Harry, but what looks like a chance to some is very different to what other people see as a chance and, being honest, some of those perceived chances are bleedin' ridiculous!

As an afterthought, I will be hoping to see the old Tarkowski playing for us next season, the one who was very good before he suffered that hamstring injury. I think he was rushed back too soon because of Branthwaite's injury.

I think a rested and properly fit Tarkowski will be a lot better next season.

Christy Ring 7 Posted 04/06/2026 at 13:41:23

It's the same problem as we have mentioned on other threads.

Moyes won't address the problem, putting square pegs in round holes, won't change formation and give youth a chance, he needs to bring in players for their proper positions.

We should forget about Moyes, and his idea of moving forward with players like Soucek and Stones, but no chance.

Jim Bennings 8 Posted 04/06/2026 at 14:00:41

So basically the Shite have sacked Slot and within 48 hours will appoint Iraola by the looks of it, a done deal.

In the meantime, we have ended the season and not heard a peep from a soul at this football club since before the Sunderland game and our Angus Kinnear saying us fans can be "happily dissatisfied" with the season.

Nothing from the owners, nothing from anyone at the club to tell us what direction they think we are going in or wanting to go in.

Fucking nuts.

Tony Hughes 10 Posted 04/06/2026 at 14:33:43

"Happily dissatisfied" (according to AI) is the state of loving where you are while craving more. It means you are grateful for your current life, but your restless ambition pushes you to grow, learn, and achieve new goals without the toxic feeling of being miserable.

Yeah, whatever... we love being Europeless 13th under dour Davey. Try again, Angus, and give your boss a shout to find out what the plan is with this restless ambition? If you don't mind, like...

Josh Horne 11 Posted 04/06/2026 at 17:44:19

I agree with various above expecting no different next season. The "Jake O'Brien experiment" is not an experiment at all and we have not seen the back of it.

With not a hint of embarrassment for his pivotal role in the end-of-season capitulation that directly caused it, Moyes will again cite the lack of European football as the reason for being unable to attract the players he wants.

Watch De Zerbi make a mockery of that nonsense, as did Le Bris last summer.

Moyes will neither be sacked nor given a new contract. It will make him even more stubborn, petulant and childish next season -- and the team will be, at best, treading water.

I might start watching cricket to cheer myself up.

Andy Meighan 12 Posted 04/06/2026 at 17:57:46

Josh 11.

The way England batted today I wouldn't bother. \ r

That said, we have reduced them to 5 for 3 at the time of typing.

David West 13 Posted 04/06/2026 at 19:49:06

Yes I think the chances created are abysmal, Barry & Beto feeding off the scraps of the scraps. They are not top quality strikers who will bag the 1 opportunity they get in a 70 min or 20 min stint, which is what either or get. That costs !!! Other strikers in PL probably miss more, but in a more creative team get more opportunities and score more.

Make more quality chances and I think both could improve on this year, Barry especially being his first season. Hope someone's feeding him pans of scouse over the summer and he comes back physically stronger.

Both are not 30 or 20 a season men, but 15-16 17 in a chance creating team could be possible for Barry if he improves and the service improves.

But the defence is the thing that requires full overhaul, Build a new one around jarred. Full backs who need the wide player to cover too much is crushing our creative players. Then equally, fullbacks offering nothing offensively isolates the wide players in possession.

I'm not convinced by JOB, with the ball at his feet he's a liability, but in fairness I'm not writing him off until he's had a fair run of games at CB. So we have 1 defender worth his place in my opinion.

Ian Bennett 15 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:07:02

All good points.

Our ability to score - poor Our ability to retain possession - poor The defence - poor The right flank - poor Our need to retreat into shape & absorb the hits, and not press higher

David West 16 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:10:04

John At Cb he's not played much has he ? You still need to play with your feet at CB. I know he's 6ft 7 but he looks like he's shit scared of the ball !

John Collins 17 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:13:55

2, maybe 3 games off the top of my head, David. I do think he looks rushed with the ball at full-back.

He will obviously have more passing options at centre-back. I think he's got a chance, tbh.

David West 18 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:24:28

Agree mate, he played great at Forest I think it was.

I mean, it could help Jake O'Brien be a better ball-playing centre-back in the long run.

I've not seen him play a long pass, like Keane can, or split a midfield with a ball like Branthwaite can, so is he a new younger Tarkowski? Not a bad thing, by the way.

John Collins 19 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:29:14

His main asset against Tarks and Keane, as you know, is he's faster than them David. We need to get further up the pitch next season mate.

Christy Ring 20 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:34:17

So Barry and Beto are feeding off scraps, and will improve, and O'Brien with the ball at his feet is a liability, and looks like he's shit scared of the ball? Show me a 6'7 centreback being played out of position at fullback, is comfortable on the ball. When he played centreback this season he looked so comfortable, good in the air and quick on the ground. I hope Branthwaite and O'Brien are paired together next season, but knowing Moyes, who doesn't like change, he'll still play slow and lethargic Tarkowski and Keane.

David West 21 Posted 04/06/2026 at 20:51:57

John. Yeah and he's physically strong and looks like he likes a tussle. If we have a RB next year I see no reason why he doesn't start at least before keane, and if tarks doesn't improve he & jarred our starting CB.

Christy, a striker can't score without service. It's a different argument to whether JOB can be a long term CB for us. He's made mistakes, but that's at RB. If you or anyone else has made up their mind on JOB on the few starts at CB then fine, but I'm holding off myself until he's played consistently there.

Christy Ring 22 Posted 04/06/2026 at 21:06:17

David, I totally agree, he needs to play consistently there, but as you say, against Forest he looked so comfortable there, which hopefully is a good sign, the more games there the more confident he'll become.

David West 23 Posted 04/06/2026 at 21:23:33

Definitely Christy. I hope it works for him, because he's worked hard out of position, not being comfortable, but got on with it, done his very best which deserves credit, shows the character of the lad, so if he can perform at CB consistently we've got a player, a team player too !

Mike Gaynes 24 Posted 04/06/2026 at 21:54:29

I think Jake has every ability necessary to become a top CB someday. I actually like his ball skills very much, his pace when unleashed is impressive, and he's strong and decisive both in the air and on the ground. Yes, he lacks experience, and no, we haven't seen the positive passing, but I like what I see.

The larger question is who his partner will be. The most chilling data that Everton must deal with isn't about possession or pressure. It's the numbers 3 and 51 -- the number of serious leg muscle injuries that Branthwaite has suffered the past two seasons, and the number of games he has missed as a result.