What do Beto and Thierno Barry each bring to the Everton side?

The last Everton striker to score more than 20 goals in a season was Romelu Lukaku in 2016-17, when he scored 25. Since then, Dominic Calvert-Lewin came close in 2020-21, when he found the net 16 times in the Premier League.

But outside of those two seasons, Everton haven’t had a player break the 15-goal mark in seven of the last nine seasons.

Oumar Niasse, Sandro Ramirez, Cenk Tosun, Moise Kean, Salomon Rondon, and Neil Maupay are some of the players bought since then in an attempt to add goals.

This season, it’s Beto and new signing 22-year-old Thierno Barry trying, and so far failing, to score goals up front for Everton. Barry is yet to score his first goal for the club, while Beto has scored once in the Premier League against Wolves and once against Mansfield in the League Cup.

The stats don’t make great reading for Everton supporters. Of the 44 strikers who’ve played in the Premier League this season, only Jean Phillipe-Mateta is underperforming his expected goals more than Beto, who’s scored once off an xG of 2.5. Barry sits eleventh on that list, with an xG of 0.5 without a goal. 

For reference, seven players have scored more than their expected goals this season: Jarrod Bowen leads the list with three goals from an xG of 0.8, and former Everton striker Richarlison isn’t far behind with three goals from an xG of 1.7.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who left Everton over the summer, has scored once for Leeds from an xG of 1.3.

So, if they aren’t scoring goals for the Toffees, what else do the two strikers bring to the team?

One of Barry or Beto has been on the pitch for every minute of play this season, with Beto playing almost exactly twice as many minutes as the young Frenchman. Six of Everton’s Premier League goals came when Beto was up top, while three came with Barry up front. Not statistically significant considering the amount of time each has been on the pitch.

With points, it's the same story. In matches where Beto started up front, the Toffees have won one, drawn two, and lost two. 

While Everton won both matches where Thierno Barry started up front, most recently against Crystal Palace, but it was Beto on for both of Everton’s goals after replacing Barry at half-time.

Everton’s two best performances of the season are still probably the two victories over Brighton and Wolves back in August, where Barry started against Brighton and Beto started against Wolves. 

When looking at the individual statistics, Beto averages more shots per game than Barry, with 2.3 compared to Barry’s 1.7, but underperforms him in other attacking areas.

Barry averages roughly 12 successful passes per 90, whereas Beto averages just under seven. 

Barry also averages more touches when on the pitch and more yards carrying the football. But fewer of his touches are in the opposition's penalty area.

All this suggests that, while Beto is more involved in and around the opposition's goal, Barry is playing a larger role in the build-up play. 

Watching them play confirms this. Against Brighton, Barry played a big role in both of Everton’s goals, but did so outside the penalty area.

In both instances, good hold-up play and one-touch passes from the young striker helped kick off Everton’s attacking moves. 

This kind of technical play, the ability to find passes in tight areas and control the ball with one touch, is something that Beto often lacks. Too frequently does Beto’s first touch pop off his shin and straight to an opposition player, ending a move before it starts.

But in the box, it’s a different story. Beto’s always looking to get in front of defenders. As soon as the ball goes wide, Beto’s often seen sprinting straight for the space between the posts. 

His spacing and physicality in a crowded box set him up better to get on the end of crosses or occupy one or two central defenders to free up a trailing runner. 

Barry doesn’t look as confident in the box. Despite being 6ft-5in, he isn’t shoving off defenders or throwing his body in front of them; he tends to sit back and try to beat them for pace when the ball comes in. 

This also shows on the defensive side, Beto’s winning more tackles and duels than his younger counterpart. 

The good thing for Everton is that Barry can develop these skills; learning how to find space in the box, and use his size against bigger, more physical Premier League defenders, is something that won’t come right away. 

For now, they both offer different things: one is chaos in the opposition's box; the other is a technical player who can link up with the midfield. If they can improve their finishing, then David Moyes could have two useful attacking options suitable for different scenarios.

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