Journalist David Alexander Hughes has recently discussed one of Everton’s strengths which had gone underused this season.
This term, the Toffees have only scored the 10th-most goals in the Premier League having netted 40 so far this season.
However, the Merseyside outfit have bagged the second-most headed goals, having scored 14 of their 40 goals with a header (per Premier League).
So, in the latest episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Hughes discussed the Toffees’ strength in the air.
He said: “Yeah, you’re right, we have got good set-piece takers and also got threats in the air. In terms of the most headed shots attempted in the Premier League this season, three of the top five are Everton players.
“[Dominic] Calvert Lewin’s joint-top with [Raul] Jimenez at Wolves with 22. Then you [have] got Richarlison [with] 21. Yerry Mina [with] 19 and then Burnley’s Chris Wood [with] 18.
“So, it’s really a shame that we haven’t really [seen] Everton taking advantage of these under [Marco] Silva and it’s a little bit of a detriment to his legacy that we never saw the better record because he had these players at his disposal.
“[Carlo] Ancelotti, of course, knows how important they are. He’s got his son [assistant Davide Ancelotti] designing the set pieces.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, it seems that he believes that Marco Silva did not make the most of the side’s heading ability whereas Carlo Ancelotti is doing so.
Did Everton under use their aerial ability during Marco Silva's tenure?Yes, it was a problem
No, not really a problem
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Judging from the fact that the Toffees have scored 35% of all of their league goals this season with headers, it would seem that their aerial ability has been used to their advantage for at least some of the season.