Tim Cahill has been a great player for Everton since his arrival in our 'darkest hour' during the summer of 2004. The 31 year-old Aussie has clocked up 54 goals in over 200 appearances. In recent years though, as the teams style of play has involved, a growing number of fans have been calling for him to be axed from the side. They point to his lack of passing ability and pace as the reason for this.
I can see their point. I think it's unlikely that we'll see him deployed in the centre of midfield in anything other than an emergency for these reasons. I also think his effectiveness in the role of second striker or in the hole in a 4-4-1-1 is decreasing rapidly.
Yesterday in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, Moyes played Cahill as our loan striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation and I thought he had a really good game. It's in this role within this specific formation that I think Tim can still be a really useful player for us and in my opinion is probably why Moyes sanctioned the selling of two strikers in the transfer window with only one replacement.
In the 4-2-3-1 we saw yesterday, the presence of two holding midfielders in Fellaini and Rodwell allows the three more advanced midfielders to get a lot closer to the front man. I think this makes the ability of the front man to run in behind and stretch the opponents defence less important as runners from the advanced midfielders can provide this threat. It creates the feel of an attacking four and as with Messi at Barcelona means that the centre forwards can come deeper. Cahill may not have the ability to play a twenty-yard through-ball but his short passing, movement and as importantly his vision for it is very under-rated by Evertonians. His assist for Osman is a prime example. Cahill's job yesterday was to control the ball, and bring Osman + either Coleman or Bily into play. The three players then work the ball in groups of three to create an opening. It's what you see Barca do all the time. I think Tim did this very well yesterday.
The problem for Cahill comes when the full-back (usually Baines) joins the three. At this point Cahill's build-up job is done and he should be heading towards the box to get on the end of the cross. However, because he doesn't have the pace of a Rooney or Messi who play the 'false-nine' role so well, the cross will either reach an empty box or the momentum of the move will be slowed as the wide players wait for Cahill to get there. It's for this reason I think that when Saha is fit he will play this role in Cahill's place. He's equally adept at building the play but has just that little bit extra pace and stikers instict when hitting the box.
So how about Cahill in one of the advanced midfield roles when Saha is back? Well i'm sure he can do a job there but I think Coleman, Osman, Bily and Drenthe all probably offer more than him there. Whether that's pace, range of passing (ie.can switch it if needed) or long range shooting ability so unless they're all out I would say no.
So in conclusion I still think Tim Cahill has a role to play at Everton but it's a striker rather than as a midfielder. Given the fitness of Saha and that Velios and Stracq are so unproven I still think that's a big and important one and when considered as above might be some comfort to Evertonians worried about our lack of forwards.
Lastly, just a couple of notes about the 4-2-3-1 formation. You may have guessed this, but I think it's our best option right now. Splitting the midfield as it does allows us to keep more bodies further up the pitch and given our lack of pace this is key to us offering an attacking threat. Whereas a faster team could get numbers forward on the counter, we can't so it makes sense to allow more players to stay up field more often. Having Fellaini and Rodwell sitting does that. I think it get's the best out of Osman which is crucial now that we have neither Pienaar or Arteta to provide a creative spark in the final third. I was impressed with the way Coleman played in it yesterday too, especially since it was his first game back. He looked more effective in the wide role of a 4-4-1-1 last season and seemed a bit confused when moved to the slightly more narrow role in a 4-2-3-1 but he looks to have done some work on it in pre-season. Perhaps it was having the ginger cafu playing behind him rather than ole pip. Anyway, we all know the result and it was a shame not to win but i'm taking the positives from what I consider was a very good overall performance.
