James McCarthy has become a fan favourite at Goodison this season following his £13 million move from Wigan last summer. His performances have been consistently superb, providing the classic grit and engine of a central defensive mid for the Blues. This has become a vital position in the modern game, with most of the worlds best teams employing a player to protect the back four.
Much of Everton’s success has stemmed from the protection provided by the steely Irish international. Premier league veteran Gareth Barry was recently quoted as saying McCarthy is one of the best midfielders he has played with — high praise when you look at his past ventures.
The Blues’ defensive record at second best in the league says it all really, and is not bad for a manager who at the start of the season was told that keeping goals out would be his main issue. This fact makes it somewhat surprising that Palace managed to put three goals past the Merseyside outfit at home. James McCarthy started this game on the bench and many have said that it is this move by Martinez that ultimately led to the loss as Barkley was left to partner Barry at CDM but tended to wander up field leaving the latter exposed and unable to cover the ground necessary to thwart the soaring eagles attacks. I would have been more inclined to bench Barry if anyone as McCarthy is younger and has better stamina earning himself the nickname ‘Duracell McCarthy’ from the Goodison faithful.
Martinez has came out in the media since and stated that the young Irish international had a muscle injury that led to his benching but I believe it also an attempt to rest players at this late point in the season. McCarthy was introduced on the 58th minute mark in the game and his effect was plain for all to see as Everton went on to score both of their goals after his arrival.
The further emergence of Ross Barkley this year is largely due to the system employed by Roberto Martinez in which Barkley is allowed to roam alongside the likes of Kevin Mirallas, Gerard Deolufeu and Steven Naismith finding pockets of space knowing they have protection. These tactics also support the fullbacks as they advance either McCarthy or Barry slot into the vacant spot.
Many where skeptical of signing the former Wigan man, fearing he would be just another flop that followed his manager to a better side where he would struggle. Clearly this was not the case, Martinez knew exactly what he was doing re-investing half of the Fellaini money on a younger more industrious (and less pointy elbowed) holding player.
It can be difficult to quantify the contribution of such players sometimes but McCarthy has excelled in several of the key stat lines. His pass success rate exceeds 85%, he has his highest assist total (three) of his career and his best tackles per game (3.3) ratio. The only glaring deficiency in his game would be goals, if he managed to scramble together 5-10 goals a season he could quite easily be mentioned alongside the best CDM’s in the league.
Exciting times lie ahead for Everton and I believe it will be players like James McCarthy, John Stones, Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman and Phil Jagielka that will form the exciting foundations for a team that could go on to establish themselves as a top 5 team. It is a brilliant time to be a football fan on Merseyside and seeing a team being built the right way.
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