Everton are doubling down on their back-post threat

There is beauty in simplicity.

Everton’s second goal in their opening day win over Crystal Palace proved that. A quick free kick, a stunning cross and a header home, with a slight deflection, from your No 9 — in this case Thierno Barry, to complete a 2-0 victory.

David Moyes was full of praise for it and the timing of Barry’s 53rd-minute goal was crucial, as it halted any momentum Palace had from the first half.

The Everton manager lauded Iliman Ndiaye’s cross and Barry’s movement in the post-match press conference. “We are trying to get more balls in the box,” Moyes told the club’s official channel after the game. “We are trying to get Thierno in the right positions as often as we can. Thankfully, we did.”

However, Everton’s back-post threat was a key part of their attack in the Premier League last season and Moyes clearly wants to build on it.

In the lead-up to Barry’s goal, new midfield signing Hayden Hackney, who has joined from Middlesbrough in the Championship, played the quick free kick to Ndiaye down the right, with Barry positioned in front of Palace’s central centre-back, Chris Richards.

The Everton centre-forward holds his position as Ndiaye creates a crossing angle, and makes the run towards the back post when the Senegal winger is connecting with the ball.

The beauty of Ndiaye’s cross is only matched by the timing of Barry’s movement, which does not give Richards or Jaydee Canvot any clues until the ball is in the air.

Barry and Beto’s movement inside the penalty area plays a big role in Everton’s threat at the back post, even if they are not the goalscorers.

In this example, from the 2-0 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion last August, Barry’s movement momentarily frees Ndiaye at the back post.

Initially, Maxim De Cuyper is marking the winger and Lewis Dunk is keeping an eye on Barry, as Jack Grealish is attacking the other wing.

When Grealish dribbles past right-back Mats Wieffer, Everton’s centre-forward moves inside, grabbing De Cuyper’s attention, which is enough for Ndiaye to attack the back post and score from his team-mate’s cross.

In other situations, the No 10 and wingers’ movement creates the space for Everton’s centre-forward.

Here, in the 2-1 defeat against Liverpool in April, Dwight McNeil, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye are in each other’s positions.

When Idrissa Gueye’s pass to Vitalii Mykolenko entices Curtis Jones to press the left-back, Dewsbury-Hall and McNeil spot the space behind Ibrahima Konate and attack it.

Mykolenko then finds Dewsbury-Hall, while McNeil’s run forces Virgil van Dijk to move across, isolating Beto against Andy Robertson at the back post.

Everton’s attacking midfielder then capitalises on Beto’s positional advantage by playing the ball across goal for the striker to score.

The type of run which McNeil, who left for Palace this summer, made in that match against Liverpool is one that has been synonymous with Dewsbury-Hall since his move to Everton from Chelsea last summer.

As seen in the illustration below, Dewsbury-Hall makes the bulk of his underlapping runs in the left half-space to support Everton’s attack from wide areas.

This type of run forces the opponent’s centre-backs to move across, and as a result, creates more space at the back post. It allows Dewsbury-Hall to receive the ball in dangerous positions from where he can find a back-post runner.

In this example, from the 3-2 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Dewsbury-Hall plays the ball to Grealish as Ndiaye is adjusting his position to be a threat at the back post.

Everton’s attacking midfielder then attacks the space between Wolves’ right wing-back and centre-back, and Grealish finds his run. This forces Emmanuel Agbadou and Toti Gomes to move across, creating space for Ndiaye at the back post.

Dewsbury-Hall then plays the ball across goal, and Everton’s right winger scores from close range.

Since the beginning of last season, Everton have been one of the best teams in the Premier League in terms of creating back-post chances in open play. Only Manchester United (eight) and Chelsea (13) have scored more back-post goals than Everton (seven) during that period.

Meanwhile, they have accumulated the second-highest expected goals (xG) from back-post chances (8.8) in the Premier League since 2025-26.

Everton’s focus on attacking the wide areas and creating chances at the back post plays to the strengths of their individuals: Beto and Barry’s movement inside the penalty area is smart, Dewsbury-Hall thrives on underlapping runs in the left half-space, Ndiaye’s dribbling ability can create small crossing angles and Brennan Johnson, who came the other way in the swap deal with McNeil, is the ultimate back-post attacker.

In addition, the timing of their movements inside the penalty area and their crossing ability make their back-post threat harder to stop, even if the opponents know what is coming.

Everton’s continued back-post threat may prove to be vital if they are to reach their targets this season.