Dwight McNeil thriving in new role, Dejan Kulusevski’s creativity inside and Ryan Gravenberch’s ball-carrying | Football News

Dwight McNeil was the hero for Everton as they picked up their first Premier League win of the season in coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace. He scored both goals in the second half, a performance that only underlined his excellent form in a new role.

McNeil had been largely restricted to the left flank previously but is now playing as a No 10. “Me and the staff spoke about it and could we get him inside? Iliman [Ndiaye] has done well enough in the wide area to allow us more freedom to move Dwight,” said Sean Dyche.

The Everton boss added: “I thought we needed that slightly better opening quality as in finding a pass, finding a finish, finding a delivery, and being in the centre of the pitch, in theory anyway, as long as we can get the ball in there, brings him to life more than out wide.”

McNeil has already matched his goal tally for last season – surpassed it if his Carabao Cup goal is included – but as Dyche suggests, it has been his creativity in this new position that has been just as impressive. In fact, he has a better record than anyone.

Expected assists measure the quality of chances created, the fairest measure, arguably, given that it is not dependent on the person finishing the chance. McNeil is top ahead of James Maddison, Bukayo Saka, Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The ways in which he is creating are changing too. Once seen as a mere crosser of the ball, he has played more through-balls than anyone else in the Premier League season, putting him just ahead of fellow playmakers Maddison and Cole Palmer on that metric.

His set-piece delivery has long been a weapon for Everton. Now, supporters are seeing more of what he can do when finding himself in good areas. Dyche believes there is more to come. “He will mature into the role as he plays there more.” A player transformed.

Kulusevski’s creativity key

Going into this weekend, Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son had created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season. Given his excellent record against Manchester United, he was expected to be a big loss at Old Trafford.

He would certainly have fancied converting one of the two one-on-one chances enjoyed by his stand-in Timo Werner but it mattered not because Dejan Kulusevski created far more than just that. The Swede was sensational in Spurs’ 3-0 demolition of United.

His nine chances created in the contest were the most by a visiting player in a Premier League game at Old Trafford since they began collecting such records over 20 years ago. Eight of them were from open play meaning Kulusevski, not Son, now tops that list.

To get a feel for how rare that particular statistic is, peruse the full list of occasions of a player creating that many opportunities over the past decade – it has happened only a dozen times. He is the first Spurs player to create so many openings in over eight years.

It was a privilege to be there to witness him galloping through the wide open spaces on that big pitch, his ball-carrying being a feature of the game. His success in that inside role vindicated Ange Postecoglou’s positive team selection, cutting United apart.

Asked in the press conference about how Kulusevski dovetailed with James Maddison, Postecoglou said: “The way we play suits their characteristics. Madders does so much damage with the ball and Deki does so much with his running and good balance.”

Kulusevski had been considered a right-winger for much of his time at Tottenham but Brennan Johnson’s good form in that position might prove to be a turning point in both of their careers with the club. Operating inside, we are seeing the full repertoire now.

Gravenberch’s brilliant ball-carrying

The same might be said of Ryan Gravenberch, a player who underwhelmed a little during his first season with Liverpool but is now flourishing under Arne Slot. He was the player of the match yet again as his team won 2-1 at Molineux to move top of the table.

Watching Gravenberch up close at Molineux, his running power stood out. His ability to carry the ball past opponents even from deep areas of the pitch makes a real difference and is a rarity among central midfielders. Second Spectrum data reveals just how rare.

When carrying the ball at his feet, Gravenberch has now bypassed a total of 39 opponents with his runs so far this season. That is not quite as many as Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic but it is 14 more times than any other central midfield player.

“If you want to have a possession-based style of play, if you want to have the ball and keep it as long as you can, then it always helps if you have players that are so comfortable on the ball in the holding midfielder position,” Arne Slot told Sky Sports.

Not for the first time, the Liverpool boss stressed that there was more to Gravenberch’s game than this. “He is doing a really good job without the ball as well. To be completely honest, that surprised me even a bit because I know him from the Dutch league.”

It is that unusual combination – the ball-carrying from deep, the 62 passes with a completion rate of 92 per cent coupled with the most tackles of any Liverpool player against Wolves – that has people so excited. It is best illustrated by his interceptions.

There have been 42 of them in total this season, including one that led to a goal in the win over Manchester United. No other central midfielder in the Premier League has made even 30. It is a key point of difference, a big factor in Solt’s Liverpool being top of the table.