Brian Sorensen's Everton: Formation, tactics and style of play
A new series showcasing the tactical profiles of every Women's Super League team in partnership with The Underrated Scout
This piece is part of a special Team Profiles series with The Underrated Scout. Across the next few months we’ll be publishing pieces on the tactics, style of play and trends of every WSL team.
Share on social media and let us know what you think of the series.
Everton have had a challenging start to the Women’s Super League campaign, sitting ninth in the standings, level on points with Aston Villa and local rivals Liverpool. The team recently delivered a notable performance with a surprising victory over Manchester City, offering a glimpse of their potential. Manager Brian Sorensen is working to establish greater consistency, focusing on achieving stability in the league and steering clear of relegation worries. This analysis will delve into his tactical approach, the team’s key strengths, and the challenges they must overcome to build momentum in this competitive league.
Attacking structure
Base formation
At the start of this season, Sorensen implemented various changes to his system and player selections from game to game, driven by tactical needs and the necessity to cope with numerous injuries throughout the campaign. Everton appear to have settled on a 3-4-2-1 base formation, although variants such as the 3-4-3 or the 3-4-1-2 and even a back four have been employed occasionally. However, even in the latter setup, in-possession rotations often lead to a back three.
The functioning of Everton's 3-4-2-1 is relatively straightforward. In midfield, the two central players form a partnership consisting of a holding midfielder, who combines robust ball-winning abilities with playmaking skills, and a box-to-box player, providing balance and support in both phases of play. Among the two attacking midfielders, one systematically drops centrally to hold up the ball and link play. Notably, a traditional striker like Katja Snoeijs is often used in this role. Meanwhile, the other attacking midfielder is granted more freedom in possession and is tasked with attacking spaces when available. The striker is expected to attack the depth and stretch opposition defences, particularly when Toni Payne is on the pitch. It’s worth noting that these three offensive roles are often somewhat interchangeable, leading to the variations mentioned earlier. For example, if Snoeijs plays as the central striker, she will drop deep, while the other forward (if present) or one of the attacking midfielders makes runs in behind.
Build Up
Everton build from the back using a five-player structure when the defence holds possession in their own third. This 3+2 setup typically comprises the backline and the two defensive midfielders. One of the midfielders, usually the box-to-box player, moves closer in a secondary phase, acting as a free “third man” and providing a reliable vertical passing option.
Closer to their own goal, the goalkeeper becomes part of the 3+2, reducing the need for the box-to-box midfielder to drop back as often. However, Courtney Brosnan’s limited proficiency with her feet means she primarily offers a short passing outlet to the centre-backs or looks for long, direct passes.
Against Liverpool, Everton adopted a different approach: the central defender in the back three, Justine Vanhaevermaet, stepped forward into a midfield position. With at least one wing-back staying deeper and the box-to-box midfielder pushing higher, the team effectively transitioned into a 4-2-3-1 shape. This system created additional passing options to bypass Liverpool’s aggressive press while also mirroring their own tactical setup.
When the team builds from the back, the objective of finding a free player is almost always to locate someone on the flank—whether it’s a wingback or even an attacking midfielder—to allow the team to advance the ball by running with it. This approach benefits Everton players, who are capable of carrying the ball forward efficiently into more advanced areas.
Defensive structure
General characteristics
Out of possession, Everton drop the two wing-backs into line with the defenders and the two attacking midfielders alongside the central midfielders, forming a 5-4-1 shape. This setup typically involves either a mid or low block, depending on the opponent. It provides two compact and organised lines that are difficult to penetrate, making it an effective structure for a team aiming to defend, endure pressure, and launch quick counter-attacks.
Against teams with a clearly defined deep-lying playmaker, such as Manchester City, the 5-4-1 shifts into a 5-3-2 to efficiently shield the opposition's pivot. However, this adjustment often leaves the wing-backs more isolated in wide areas, requiring significant horizontal coverage from the midfielders to close down opposition full-backs and prevent one-on-one defensive situations.
In both systems, the midfield and attacking lines must remain compact. If the distances between the units are lost, the team risks conceding large amounts of space to the opponent after a simple quick combination. This is certainly an area that requires improvement through greater discipline and positional awareness.
Overall, Everton are a team that defend frequently and effectively, ranking in the top six for the fewest goals conceded and boasting defensive statistics well above the league average. The team excels particularly in clearing crosses and dealing with aerial balls, showing great resilience and confidence when defending inside their own penalty area, often putting their bodies on the line to protect their goal.
However, there is room for improvement in areas such as indirect challenges and interceptions. Adding another midfielder with these attributes could address this, as most of the current options, apart from Honoka Hayashi, tend to favour direct challenges over reading the play and cutting passing lanes.
Another key aspect to highlight is the crucial role of Brosnan, who provides great stability and assurance between the posts. She is consistently her team’s standout performer and ranks among the best shot-stoppers in the WSL, despite often facing considerable pressure.
A key metric showcasing her impact is Post-Shot xG (PSxG), which evaluates the likelihood of a goalkeeper saving a shot based on its quality after being struck. For instance, two shots from the same location might share the same xG, but a weak effort aimed at the keeper would have a lower PSxG than a well-struck shot toward the top corner.
For a goalkeeper, conceding fewer goals than the PSxG value suggests, indicates an above-average performer. In Brosnan’s case, she has conceded 16 goals compared to an expected 18.1PSxG. The difference between these two values produces the Post-Shot xG minus Goals Conceded metric (PSxG+/- for short). So, a high positive number in this statistic indicates either good fortune or a higher-than-average ability to stop shots.
Across the WSL, Everton’s +2.1 ranks third in this metric, behind only Manchester United and Arsenal, underlining Brosnan’s outstanding contribution to the team’s defensive success.
Pressing
Everton’s pressing intensity adjusts based on the opponent but remains measured, prioritising defensive solidity over aggressive challenges. The press is triggered when the opposition approaches midfield, with the striker pressing the central defender, the attacking midfielders marking the full-backs (or wide centre-backs in a back three), and the wing-backs picking up the wingers (or wing-backs in similar systems). The central midfielders, meanwhile, focus on tracking their opposite numbers.
In the 5-4-1 shape, the press aims to funnel play toward the flanks, forcing opponents away from central areas. In contrast, the 5-3-2 formation directs opponents inward, where greater defensive density and tighter spaces make it easier for Everton to regain possession by cutting off passing lanes and crowding the ball.
Transitional play
Transitions are a key aspect of Everton’s game, as they frequently aim to catch opponents off guard with quick counter-attacks. The team primarily moves up the field through long passes or by carrying the ball forward, leveraging the pace and running ability of players like Payne, Sara Holmgaard and Mel Lawley, as well as the reliable target provided by Snoeijs. These rapid transitions are well-supported, with as many as four or five players often joining the counter-attack.
Defensively, Everton adopt a more conservative approach when losing possession, avoiding immediate or highly coordinated counter-pressing. Instead, the nearest player to the opponent in possession typically takes responsibility, either attempting to win back the ball quickly or slowing down play to give teammates time to regroup. The emphasis is on covering critical spaces to disrupt the opposition's flow and prevent dangerous advances. Statistically, this approach is evident in the distribution of tackles across different areas of the pitch. While Everton’s defensive third sees a tackle count above the league average, their tackling frequency drops below average in more advanced zones, reflecting their preference for maintaining a solid defensive shape over aggressive pressing higher up the field.
Conclusions
Everton’s season has been a mix of defensive resilience and ongoing challenges in attack. Under Sorensen’s leadership, the team has developed a solid defensive structure, consistently ranking among the best in this aspect. However, the difficulty has been translating that defensive solidity into attacking firepower, as the team still lacks an out-and-out goalscorer to consistently finish chances. The recent addition of Kelly Gago, who signed from Nantes this month, could be a step in addressing this issue, potentially adding more clinical edge to Everton’s attack.
For the remainder of the season, balancing their strong defence with more attacking efficiency will be crucial. If they can improve in front of goal while maintaining defensive solidity, they will be well-placed for safety and long-term competitiveness in the WSL.