A struggling blue giant
Everton are a team in trouble. They have fallen from grace over the years, despite having a history to be proud of. Currently they have a real handicap to overcome.
Welcome to another instalment of the ‘Day One’ series, and to one that has been requested – Everton. What we do with this series is look at how to start with a club on day one, using the objectives and team data on FM24. We make suggestions on how to start your season with them as well as what to look for in the future.
Everton are the first team to be requested by you, so here we go. Long gone are the days where Everton were in Europe and pushing the top 6. They are in trouble with the -10 points because of financial irregularities, which is obviously a big disadvantage. Can we overcome the disadvantage and steer clear of the relegation zone?
In this FM24 guide we are going to:
- Look at the league performance and individual performances.
- We will look at the tactics which have been used in FM24.
- Potential transfers and areas of improvement.
Read on if you want to change Chelsea’s fate and take them back to the glory days!
Everton Objectives
The Everton faithful on FM24 have very little to say about what the want from their club to my surprise. This is a good thing, it means we are allowed creative freedom in the team, rather than playing by the rules. Either way, we have found that playing entertaining tends to mean playing attacking football, so we will stick by our usual rules.
Due to the fear of relegation the board have no real objectives, they want to fully focus on staying up. They have been looking at a new stadium for years now and working within a budget is must after the FFP deduction happened. This is a club that wants to maintain it’s status and not take risks.
As you can see, the board will allow you to do what you want, as long as you keep the club in the division and do not exposure them to financial risk. This is totally understandable after what the club has been through.
Everton First 11
Looking at the current ability stars data on FM24 that we have available will give us a good starting point for the squad. We have 5 key players in the squad, and for one we have two forwards in this squad who are good enough to play. This opens up all sorts of options, but with two strikers you expect more goals right? We also have an AML and DM, as well as a GK, which again gives us options.
Looking at the rest of the squad we can see that we have a few high potential stars in Onana and Patterson. Looking at the overall squad structure we have decent range of DCs, and some good MCs. These things are indicating that the team could play 442 or a 442 DM, which is a twist.
A lot of the centre midfield players are defensive or ball winners, which is a great partnership to have in a 442. Additionally it gives us the chance to play two strikers which means all key players accounted for. Plenty of opportunity down the wings too with at least one of the forwards is really good in the air.
Overall, I’m confident in the team, the players are of a good quality and there is a large enough squad. I think we have a good idea of how this team can set up, meaning that we have a starting point. This team has a good balance in attack and defence.
The tactics
With the combination of forwards we have there are a multiple ways to feed the ball in. With the target man we could hit him from the wings for opportunities or to create other opportunities for the poacher or oncoming midfielder. This means we need to push the ball down the wings from the defence.
As the 442 is an attacking formation on FM24, we will play with a high press and keep the opposition compressed in their own half. I’ve gone with short passing, in order to keep possession. We could look at direct passing down the wings to keep the attacks quick.
As this is a team in the bottom half of the league, I have kept the instructions simple.
Conclusion
Overall, I think Everton escaping relegation is an easy task. There is plenty of talent in the team, it is well balanced and better facilities. There are two competent strikers, with a really good back four. The midfield is more defense minded than planned, but they are combative and recycle the ball for us.
Sean Dyche’s personality is definitely stamped all over this team. Additionally, you can see his type of football and formation throughout. I’m definitely looking forward to playing with this team, just because of the handicap of the -10 points and then pushing up the league.
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