OPINION
Everton manager Marco Silva would be well advised to hand left back Leighton Baines a bold new role against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Toffees boss discussed a potential positional switch to defensive midfield for the £70k-a-week veteran with the Liverpool Echo this week, and the Spurs clash would be an ideal opportunity to test Baines out in a 4-3-3 formation.
Silva’s team weren’t good enough against Manchester City last time out, and have routinely failed against the big boys this term, and so the Portuguese needs to try something different here in order to overcome Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Defender Kurt Zouma should be the man to drop out for Baines, while Seamus Coleman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin could potentially be replaced by Jonjoe Kenny and Idrissa Gueye.
Jordan Pickford is the undisputed number one at Goodison Park and deserves to continue manning the posts, while Michael Keane and Yerry Mina have established themselves as Silva’s number one centre back partnership this season.
Lucas Digne is nigh on untouchable at left back at the moment and dropping him shouldn’t even enter the manager’s mind. Coleman, on the other hand, has been sub-par for a while now, and should be replaced by Kenny who impressed at right back earlier in the campaign.
As mentioned above, Baines could excel in a deep-lying midfield role. Protected by the industry of Gueye and the class of Andre Gomes ahead of him, the former Wigan Athletic man can utilise his passing ability and defensive nous to stymie Spurs at every opportunity.
A fluid front three of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bernard and Richarlison would bring out the best in all three men. The former Watford star would be the most advanced of the trio, but the constant shifting of positions between the three players would be a nightmare for Tottenham to deal with.