Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace
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Did Everton’s star players Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall miss those chances against Crystal Palace because they were too tired?
We had our chances to kill the game. Like against Manchester City, Ndiaye had at least two big opportunities, the same with Dewsbury-Hall, but they were tame efforts.
Is that because they’re so deep, they’ve got to run 30 or 40 yards to get the opportunity? Why aren’t they getting into these positions being fresh and lively?
We want to see players being able to use their energy in the right parts of the pitch to cause problems, like Ndiaye in the final third. Are they not good enough in front of goal or are they just working too hard defensively that they are fatigued?
Strikers like Erling Haaland hardly touch the ball and they don’t get involved. Yet, when he gets a chance, he’s fresh, he’s ready.
We’ve seen it for years, that’s why he’s a master at it. He doesn’t waste his energy on things that don’t concern him, whereas I fear we’re the other way around.
We’ve got Ndiaye working really hard. He tracks back and gets the ball in the centre of the pitch with two or three opponents around him, I don’t want him taking people on by the halfway line, he’s not going to score from there – it’s pointless.
Dribbling the football is one of the most difficult things to do in the game, but while he excels in that area, he’s not productive enough. He’s working hard in the wrong areas, if I was Vitalii Mykolenko at left-back, I’d be telling him to go away from me, I should be able to defend this and when I win the ball, I’ll give it to you as you can get us up the pitch.
There are fantastic touches and little flicks but at the end of the day, we’ve only moved up the pitch five yards or we even end up passing it backwards. Make the magic happen in the final third.
I want better crosses from Ndiaye. I don’t want to see him take three or four players on and then nothing comes from it.
Also – because the manager probably doesn’t think we have the strength in depth – we seldom take our best players off until very late in the game. How many times has David Moyes withdrawn them on the hour mark and said: “It’s not your day today, sit down and have a rest.”
You could say that Haaland is a centre-forward and Ndiaye is a winger but then look at Jeremy Doku. He’s lightning fast but he’s ready to go because Manchester City’s centre-halves are on the halfway line, not back on the edge of the 18-yard box like our ones.
Dewsbury-Hall has tried to cut back when he’s on his favoured left foot. That’s not the first time he’s done it this season, it doesn’t work.
Why check back? Why give a defender a second option. If I’m a defender, I’m thinking: “Oh no, if he hits this early, I’m out of the game.”
As soon as he checks back, I’m now thinking: “I’ve got an opportunity to stop him, thank goodness.”
We’ll now be looking for a joyous occasion and a great send off against Sunderland in the last home game of our historic first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium, but that doesn’t mean the flip flops come on. In recent seasons, teams who have come up to the Premier League from the Championship have tended to go straight back down so for Regis Le Bris’ side to be where they are deserves huge plaudits.
We’ve just seen Sunderland push Manchester United and they should have won that game. They’re a good side and they’ve caused us, and other teams, problems this season.
Their travelling fans will travel down in great numbers and I’ll put a bet on to say the whole ground will be singing a Jordan Pickford song. We’ve still got a job to do to make sure we get three points.