Digne, Richarlison and Brands’ Everton Signings Blueprint

Everton’s new director of football, Marcel Brands waited two months before making his first signings for the Toffees. Just like buses, you wait for one and two come along in quick succession. The Street End looks at what these signings tell us about Marcel Brands plan for Everton Football Club.

Youth

 

The first thing to note about the two Everton transfer signings is the relative youth of the players. Richarlison is only 21 years old whilst Lucas Digne celebrated his 25^th birthday 2 weeks ago. This is important as they potentially could be Everton’s left sided partnership for the next 6 years. It has been a while since the ‘Bainaar’ combination terrorised defences but Everton have potentially found a replacement.

The fact that Brands first two signings have been under 26 also marks a departure from the Koeman/Walsh ‘plan.’ Their idea was to buy players who were fully developed to challenge for the top 6. Idrissa Gueye was 26 when he joined Everton in 2016. Ashley Williams was coming to the end of his prime at 31. Morgan Schneiderlin was 27 as was Gylfi Sigurdsson.   This had been a deliberate policy of buying ‘the finished article,’ a change from the youth movement that Roberto Martinez had tried to implement at Goodison.

Drawback

The drawback of signing players who are in their prime on big wages boils down to one thing. Motivation. Like most of us at work, money is a motivator. People work hard on the basis that they can earn more. It’s common to see a player’s performance improve when he is coming close to the end of his contract.

Signing ‘the finished article’ works when you sign players who are motivated by winning things. They are generally at the apex of their career in terms of earnings. The danger in offering a lengthy, high wage, contract to players of that age is that they can get comfortable. The club won’t terminate the contract because they have to pay it out. If a player is not motivated by winning, the club can end up with an expensive contract sitting on their bench.

New Direction

The signings of Richarlison and Digne point to a new direction from Brands. Both will be motivated to earn contracts in future. Digne has come from Barcelona and played for PSG before. He is a competitor who wants to win trophies. Richarlison is motivated by earning a place in the Brazil national team. Brands has signed 2 players that have yet to reach their peak and have something to prove. This is the direction that Everton are going in. This is illustrated by the departure of Ashley Williams to Stoke with Kevin Mirallas rumoured to be following him shortly. Both players are near the end of their careers and had disappointing seasons last year.

Future Value

Richarlison and Digne also possess future value. This is another attractive trait for Brands. Both players have the potential to improve in future and be worth more than what we signed them for. Brands has a track record of this at PSV which is one of the factors that impressed Everton owner Farhad Moshiri.

The failed transfer policy of Koeman and Walsh has cost Everton a lot of money. Players have decreased in value. Davey Klaassen was signed for £23 million pound and sold for £12 million. Yannick Bolasie was signed for £26 million pound but has not played to his value, even before his injury. Ashley Williams signed for £12 million and will leave on a free transfer when his contract runs out. Stoke are only likely to pay a portion of his wages this season.

Marcel Brands remit will be to add future value to Everton. David Moyes had a very good track record of doing this in his time as Everton manager. Marcel Brands will be looking to bring in players that will add value on and off the pitch. Richarlison and Digne fit this criteria. They could be a sign of things to come.

Press for Success

Marco Silva’s style of football could be described as ‘press for success.’ His Watford and Hull sides pressed high up the pitch. This allowed them to win the ball in the opponents half and create chances. Richarlison and Digne is that they are both experienced playing a pressing tactic.

Leighton Baines has been Everton left back for years. He would have been comfortable in this system a few years ago. Nowadays, at 33, he is short of pace to play this system for a full season. The signing of Digne provides competition at left back and gives Digne the opportunity to learn from Baines. It also gives Silva comfort in the knowledge that he has an experienced specialist left back as cover no matter which one plays.

Baines is a player who has never struggled for motivation and the signing of Digne may make his last year as effective as any other. He was missed in the side when he was injured last year. Criminally, Koeman and Walsh had not signed cover for the former England left back. This left Everton scrambling for cover when Baines got injured last season.  It appears that competition and cover are key to the Brands masterplan.

Forward Planning

Everton’s transfer signings of Digne and Richarlison also show an element of forward planning. Leighton Baines contract ends in 2019. He will be 34 when his contract ends but may continue to play. Everton will need a second full back when Baines does retire. It could be in the shape of Everton academy graduate Antonee Robinson.

‘Jedi’ as he is known, strongly linked with a loan transfer to Wigan. After last year’s successful spell at Bolton, this would give the youngster 2 years of Championship experience. Brands would then know whether Robinson is good enough to be an option at left back in future. ‘Jedi’ is blocked from the squad this season but has a path the following season if he is good enough.

The Richarlison transfer is a little different. The Brazilian footballer is comfortable across the front 3 positions of Silva’s preferred 4-3-3 formation. This versatility is very valuable on the Everton roster. Theo Walcott expressed a desire to play on the left hand side more this season. It is likely that the two will switch between the two wings during games.

The Masterplan

Richarlison and Digne provide Evertonians a glimpse of Marcel Brands masterplan. His players must have the following characteristics:

• Hard working
• Determined
• Fit the tactical profile of the manager.
• Young enough to have onsale value.
• Provide competition and cover in the squad.
• Not block young players coming through.

The Marcel Brands blueprint for Everton looks promising based on these two signings. Hopefully there will be a few more before the transfer window closes next week. Richarlison and Digne are signs of a promising future for Everton.

What do you think of Marcel Brands first two months at Everton? Do you agree with the signings so far? Let us know in the comments section below.