With Everton now having one foot in the Premier League next season, plans for squad reshaping at the new stadium can start pushing forwards. While it will be a very different Blues side in a very different environment come August, Idrissa Gueye is putting forwards a compelling case to be part of the new post-Goodison Park era by the Mersey waterfront.
The Senegal international is one of no fewer than 13 players whose current contracts are due to expire at the end of this season, but even though he turns 36 on September 26, he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Indeed, following another defensive midfield masterclass against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, Gueye in many ways appears to be getting better with age.
One of the main reasons that Nuno Espirito Santo’s high-fliers hardly got a sniff of a chance in this contest was down to Gueye’s anchor man par excellence display, which extinguished fires before the flames even started to show. Despite his advancing years, the player who first cut his teeth in the Premier League with Aston Villa almost a decade ago, was everywhere and when there was a hint of danger, as home captain Morgan Gibbs-White threatened to break clear late on, the old campaigner had the nous to ‘take one for the team’ with a tactical foul that brought a booking.
Such interventions are an occupational hazard for players in Gueye’s position and were the calling card of one of Everton’s best midfield Methuselahs, Gareth Barry. Having returned from Paris Saint-Germain, the player who completed a three-year spell with the Blues first time around can extend that stay beyond this term to be the wise old head to build a new team around.
Leading the line
Someone who looks increasingly unlikely to commit his future to Everton beyond this season is Dominic Calvert-Lewin but even if the striker, who last week was the subject of reports over revived interest from Newcastle United after a proposed move to St James’ Park last summer, has kicked his last ball for the Blues, significant question marks remain over whether David Moyes has in-house solutions to replace him. It was when Everton’s number nine was injured for this corresponding fixture last season that Beto was handed what at the time was a rare opportunity to spearhead the attack but ironically the boot was on the other foot at the City Ground this time around.
Calvert-Lewin’s hamstring injury at Brighton & Hove Albion on January 25 had left the Guinea-Bissau international as the only fit striker at the club but after an initial flurry that included five goals in a four-game spell, Beto was dropped to the bench for this contest following a five-match drought as on-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja received his first start under David Moyes. Like he’s done in all his substitute appearances, the Albania international looked mobile and eager to impress, but once again, there wasn’t much of a sniff of goal.
Moyes broke Everton’s transfer record three times in his first spell in pursuit of a regular goalscorer up front and while circumstances, including sheer availability, might dictate he doesn’t do so again this summer, it still looks like he’s going to have to make a big splash on someone to take up the mantle ahead of the move to the Mersey waterfront. Curiously, Broja’s only other Blues start came against Forest at home back in December, but he’s still got a very long way to go if he’s to provide the answer.
Return of the Mc
In the corresponding fixture last season it was Dwight McNeil’s sweet left foot, dubbed ‘The Paintbrush’ that proved the matchwinner for Everton midway through the second half. While the Rochdale-born player didn’t even enter the fray until the 90th minute this time around, it was still a swing of that educated peg that secured the three points.
With legs tiring around him, the freshness of the former Burnley man – who was making just a second late cameo after a spell of over four months on the sidelines with a knee injury – that proved the difference. With arguably the most glorious piece of robbery in Nottingham since the days of Robin Hood, McNeil nicked the ball off centre-back Murillo, drove forward and picked out Doucoure.
Harsh taskmaster Moyes might be questioning the quality of his player’s delivery, but the ball still made it through to its intended target and the game was won. Hopefully, by the time he is fully back up to speed, McNeil might be able to show his new gaffer just exactly what he’s capable of producing, although this is a promising start.
