DAVID PRENTICE: Why less is more for Everton FC and Liverpool FC bosses when picking a winning team

08 January 2010 00:15
Why less is more for Everton FC and Liverpool FC managers when picking a winning team[LNB]EVERTON and Liverpool are heading for the record books this season - although it's not a mark which will be acknowledged with any great satisfaction around Finch Farm or Melwood.[LNB]If and when Landon Donovan trots out to make his Everton debut he will be the 32nd player selected by David Moyes this season.[LNB]Given that we're only just into January, that other signings well may arrive before the transfer window closes and that we're still hopeful of seeing Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka and Victor Anichebe pull on a Royal Blue jersey at least once this season, Everton's all-time record of 35 players used in a single season is under serious threat.[LNB]It's a similar story across the park.[LNB]To date Rafael Benitez has used 30 players this term - just one behind the club record of 31 - and with a couple of transfer window recruits looking likely to bolster that figure, 32 players used looks well within Liverpool's reach.[LNB]The quantity of players selected hints at an overall lack of quality.[LNB]The reasons for David Moyes' revolving door policy are obvious.[LNB]His squad has been hit by an injury crisis to make an episode of Casualty look dull.[LNB]That wasn't the case when the dizzying figure of 35 was achieved twice before by Everton. Both campaigns came with mitigating circumstances attached.[LNB]In the very first Football League season of 1888/89, when football teams changed on a weekly basis, the board of directors selected 35 players for use in just 22 league matches.[LNB]It was a figure unmatched for 31 years, until the first season after the Great War when players were still in the process of returning from military duty all over the world to their respective football clubs.[LNB]Everton's selection process happily stabilised - until the late 60s when it was almost a case of 'same team as last year.'[LNB]The lowest ever figure, 18, was used in 1968/69, while in the title-winning season of 1969-70 only 16 players were used in league matches, 19 overall.[LNB]The lesson is clear.[LNB]Settled sides are more successful.

Source: Liverpool_Echo