Abdoulaye Doucoure was brought in from the cold by Sean Dyche at Everton and now he is topping the Premier League pressing stats. Watch Everton vs Manchester United live on Sky Sports Premier League this Sunday from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm
Sunday 26 November 2023 07:44, UK
Nobody epitomises Sean Dyche’s Everton like Abdoulaye Doucoure. The player had been an unused substitute in Frank Lampard final home game in charge, a defeat to Southampton. He started none of Lampard’s last 18 Premier League games.
Dyche immediately recalled Doucoure for the win over Arsenal in February and the season ended on a spectacular high for player and club. He scored the only goal of the game at Goodison Park as safety was secured against Bournemouth on the final day.
Since Dyche's appointment, the only Premier League matches that the midfielder has missed have been due to suspension. Earlier this month, director of football Kevin Thelwell spoke of Doucoure's "deep connection with the club" upon him signing a new contract.
"He wasn't figuring and that's no slight on anyone else, managers pick teams and players," said Dyche after the away win against Brentford in September in which Doucoure scored the opening goal. "But I think he has been a credit since I have been here."
Dyche added: "He was the catalyst for a lot of what we did, his energy and his belief in the way of playing and how we want to play. He started the process off and others went with it." It was one game but he could easily have been talking about Everton's season.
At 30, Doucoure, playing in an advanced role in support of the striker, has blossomed as scorer and creator. He has four goals but based on the non-penalty expected-goals data, calculated post-shot, he should have six. Only half a dozen players can better that.
In terms of chances created from open play, he also ranks seventh, having created 16 opportunities for his team-mates. Interestingly, the six players who have created more are all playing for teams in the top six. That makes him a potent weapon for Everton.
And that is just from open play. Dyche wants his teams to be effective from set-piece situations too and Doucoure's physicality means that he is well-suited to having an impact here. He ranks top of the Premier League for expected goals from set pieces.
But none of this really gets to the heart of what has made Doucoure such a pivotal player for Everton under Dyche. The man himself made that clear when speaking after his latest goal in the 3-2 win away to Crystal Palace last time out. "I know this isn't my first job."
That first job revolved around Doucoure's off-the-ball work.
He is a pressing machine.
Second Spectrum data reveals that Doucoure has pressed an opponent on 897 separate occasions already this Premier League season. For context, that is 150 more than the next player on the list. It is a key point of difference between Doucoure and the rest.
Those long legs eating up the ground in front of him have allowed Doucoure to cover 6.82 kilometres just when pressing an opponent. Again, that is 1.31 kilometres more than anyone else. Doucoure has pressured the most passers and the most pass receivers.
That intensity has been integral to Everton becoming a more difficult team to play against once more. Dyche wants it to feel uncomfortable for the opposition and this pressure provided by a player who can jump out from midfield to close down is crucial.
"He just wants to make sure I am in the first line of pressing for the team because he knows I have the legs to press the opponents," said Doucoure recently. "After that, I have the freedom to score goals and make some assists, so it has been good."
Doucoure's gangly frame and his occasionally loose use of the ball in possession means that he is not what some would visualise as a classic No 10. But he is contributing with goals and helping to create them for others - both with the ball and without it.
It is more dogs of war than school of science but perhaps that is what Everton needed in the current climate. Being better out of possession is essential for a team that has had only 39.2 per cent of the ball this season. Doucoure's pressing helps Everton to do that.
A coach just across Stanley Park once argued that counter-pressing was more effective than any playmaker. Doucoure might not look like a playmaker. But the role of this one-man pressing machine in Everton's upturn in results should not be underestimated.
