Everton tactics
Everton had a slow start in their last outing at Aston Villa so Roberto Martinez wanted his side to get going quickly and dominate play. The Toffees set up in a 4-1-4-1 offensive formation, which switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation when defending.
That meant that Gareth Barry sat as the only holding midfielder to protect the central defenders when Everton had the ball.
Leon Osman started as the left attacking midfielder drifting inside from the flank to influence the game between the lines. That left Leighton Baines with the space on the outside to charge down the wing and supply crosses from left-back.
On the other side, Aaron Lennon provided Everton with the option to mix their intricate offensive plan with quicker attacks as the England international operated as a natural winger, spinning in behind Sunderland’s left-back. Lennon also linked-up with right-back Seamus Coleman to provide service into the box.
James McCarthy joined Ross Barkley as the central attacking midfielders. He dropped deeper to join Barry in initiating attacks before pushing forward to work the ball behind Romelu Lukaku.
When out of possession, Lukaku led the defending in a 4-2-3-1 formation. McCarthy dropped to join Barry as the two central midfielders protecting the back-four. That left Barkley as the one pressing in a more advanced central midfield position, while Lennon and Osman pressed from the sides of central midfielders.
Sunderland tactics
Dick Advocaat admitted in his pre-match interview that he was looking at this tie more as a must-not-lose rather than a must-win clash. The Black Cats boss detailed his charges to soak up Everton’s pressure in a compact 4-5-1 formation before attacking directly in a 4-3-3 formation.
Danny Graham led the pressing from the halfway line as the lone striker in the defensive formation. Jermain Defoe and Connor Wickham had to track back with Everton’s full-backs as the wide midfielders.
Jordi Gomez and Sebastian Larsson pressed in more advanced central midfield positions while Lee Cattermole defended from the base of central midfield, where the combative midfielder minded the space between the lines.
The back-four had to converge centrally just in front of the penalty box to form a compact line that would deny Everton a way through. That meant that Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt tucked in close to the central defenders to form that back-line.
When in possession, Graham’s role became prominent. Advocaat had the option of starting with Steven Fletcher as the centre forward but the Dutch manager turned to a Graham because his hold up play is better.
The Black Cats had to try to quickly play long passes forward to Graham, with Wickham and Defoe drifting inside to join the centre forward in the Everton penalty box. The advanced central midfielders – Gomez and Larsson – also made runs from central midfield to support attacks when the three forwards retained possession high up the pitch.
Key tactical changes
In the first-quarter of the game, Everton’s offensive plan worked well: they had 78 per cent possession, Defoe struggled to contain Baines’ threat as expected and the Toffees consequently had a couple of good chances.
Crucially, Martinez’s men didn’t take their chances and the Black Cats grew into the game during the second-quarter. Advocaat’s men retained the ball better in that period, which allowed them to slow the tempo of the game.
Just after half-time, Defoe was switched to the left flank to allow Wickham to track back with Baines. The result was positive. Advocaat’s men took the lead in the first part of the second-half, so Martinez took more offensive risks.
On the hour-mark the Everton boss switched to a 4-4-2 formation by taking off defensive midfielder Barry to allow Kevin Mirallas to work as a supporting striker to Lukaku. That meant that Barkley and McCarthy worked as central midfielders.
Everton responded well to the tactical adjustment as they pinned back the visitors and came close to equalising with a couple of good chances, including McCarthy’s shot that hit the post. Sunderland were barely committing forward as they looked to protect their 0-1 lead.
By the 75th minute, Advocaat took off Graham for Adam Johnson as the Sunderland boss needed a ball carrier to relieve pressure on the Black Cats, who were virtually defending throughout the last half-hour.
Advocaat went on to make a couple of direct changes just to maintain the intensity in his hard working defensive unit but Johnson’s introduction was the key one as his transitional play also helped to create the second goal.
