Revealed: Everton Debutant Stats Against Tottenham Make Impressive Reading Despite Loss
Cenk Tosun made his Everton debut against Tottenham yesterday at Wembley Stadium.
The Toffees ended up losing 4-0, hardly a memorable debut but Tosun’s performance did give hope.
Tosun was left isolated as the lone striker but he did drop deep and help out his teammates when necessary.
The 26-year-old had 33 touches before being replaced on 62 minutes, only five fewer than Gylfi Sigurdsson, who lasted the full 90.
Tosun is first and foremost a striker but that often disguises how much he contributes to attacking moves.
See More: 3 Reasons Cenk Tosun Could End Up Being A Success At Everton
No Everton player made more key passes that Tosun’s two and had the referee not ruled Wayne Rooney’s goal offside he would have had an assist at a pivotal moment.
Had Everton’s goal stood they would have took the lead. Instead, the referee ended up giving Harry Kane a goal which should have been ruled offside.
The Toffees were by no means the better side on the day but luck did not favor them either.
Tosun had a pass accuracy of 60.9 percent which highlights two things. Firstly he needs work gelling with his teammates – understandable considering he has only trained with them for a few days.
An example of this was when he broke past the Tottenham back line into the penalty area but failed to pick out Rooney in the penalty area. Tosun replicated similar moves countless times for Besiktas usually finding his man.
It is also worth stressing that many of Tosun’s pass attempts were in the final-third trying to find an assist.
What Tosun can’t be accused of is not trying. The powerful forward won five of his aerial duels, more than any other Everton player. He was also involved in 21 duals.
The Turkey international is dual fitted, clever with his feet and intelligent in his play. Tosun was fouled four times attempting to dribble past his marker winning free-kicks in dangerous areas.
Considering the important Sam Allardyce places in set-pieces and the fact that the disallowed goal came via a corner, Tosun’s ability to win free-kicks could be vital moving forward.
Rooney, Sigurdsson, Bolasie and Tosun could prove a formidable ‘Fab Four’. Perhaps the West Brom clash at Goodison Park could be the moment Big Sam throws caution to the wind and removes the breaks.
