What's Merlin's best Röhl? | OneFootball

A win makes everything better, and the performance against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday was certainly worthy of 3 points in anyone’s book.

But Everton still have plenty of issues. They are without four of their best outfielders, and the squad is so stretched that David Moyes has elected to recall Harrison Armstrong from his loan spell at Preston North End.

Armstrong adds another much-needed option in central midfield, with injuries to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carlos Alcaraz compounding the impact of Idrissa Gueye’s Africa Cup of Nations-enforced absence. However, James Garner and Tim Iroegbunam have certainly stepped up, and at the City Ground, Merlin Röhl was finally handed his first Everton start.

Now, the German would have almost certainly made a start before then had he been fit. Röhl impressed Everton’s coaching staff right off the bat after his arrival from Freiburg in September, and looked bright in his early appearances from the bench. Yet then he was struck down with niggling injuries, which eventually resulted in Röhl undergoing surgery on a hernia in November.

Initially, Röhl was expected to be out until January; thankfully for Everton, he returned ahead of schedule to feature from the bench against Arsenal and then Burnley. There were moments of real rustiness in those matches, as would be expected at this time of year. There was also a fair argument to make that Röhl was not being helped by being brought on in the Number 10 position.

Alcaraz’s absence on Tuesday meant Röhl was given his first taste from the start in a Premier League game. And this is where we can really start to analyse how he was used.

As they usually do, Everton lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape on paper, but in reality, this shape was much more akin to 4-1-4-1, which this writer feels is the best formation for this Everton squad. Garner anchored the midfield superbly, while Iroegbunam buzzed around ahead of him and slightly to the right. Röhl, then, was tasked with pushing up higher to support Thierno Barry, but not as a traditional Number 10 — instead, drifting slightly wider to the left, in a box-to-box role.

It seems clear that this is Röhl’s best position. He is a very adept ball carrier, who can use his size, frame and surprising turn of pace to get Everton upfield, especially when there is space to drive into. While he is not a bad passer, he can be erratic and does take risks. That risk-taking almost backfired against Arsenal and Burnley, but he played smartly against Forest; perhaps, his role was simplified by Moyes, and this helped.

Röhl ranks in the 51st percentile of attacking midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for pass completion percentage (76.1%) over the past year, so there is definitely scope for improvement there. But playing deeper will see Röhl get on the ball more and, in theory, he will be able to play easier passes, rather than having to attempt to link the play or dictate any tempo as a Number 10.

Most of his touches at the City Ground came in that left-hand channel, but he was then asked to lead the press along with Barry. Röhl played 22 passes, completing 18 (82%), with seven of those successful passes coming in the Forest half. However, Röhl is positionally versatile, which is a huge plus. He might not excel behind the striker, but he can play there. He can also play in defensive midfield and has even had a stint out on the wing earlier in his career.

At Forest, Röhl demonstrated this versatility by switching to right-back when Nathan Patterson was taken off with around 20 minutes remaining. With Everton so short of options, and Garner playing superbly in the middle, Röhl was tasked with slotting into the defence and trying to see off Forest’s (not insignificant) threat down the left wing. There was one nervy moment when Dilane Bakwa got the better of him, but overall, Röhl did the job admirably well.

At one stage in the second half, before he was moved over to full-back, Röhl made a lung-bursting run forward to latch onto a pass from Barry, but just dallied when presented with an opportunity to shoot. Röhl’s versatility will be a huge help for Moyes, but hopefully, Everton’s manager does realise that it cannot end up being a hindrance to the player’s development. Röhl still needs to be able to nail down a specific position and be given time in that role.

The talent and raw attributes are certainly in place. Röhl needs to get to grips with the physicality and pace of the Premier League — there are moments when he clearly thinks he has more time on the ball than he actually does, and he could be more aggressive, especially given his stature — but the positive signs are there.