David Moyes managing Everton.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Everton fans are still disappointed with Saturday’s loss against Chelsea in the Premier League – and there’s one player in the squad who could be forgiven for feeling particularly bitter.
The Toffees saw their unbeaten run end at the hands of the Blues at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Pedro Neto scoring twice.
Everton just weren’t at the races, with Thierno Barry squandering the best chance to score in the first-half.
There has been criticism of Moyes for the plan, which was seemingly to stay in the game and try to nick a result. Some of the selections he made did not go down well, and the introduction of Christian Norgaard towards the end has really irritated some.
And frankly, that decision must have left Hayden Hackney annoyed.
Everton legend Duncan Ferguson has been appointed as the new manager of Glentoran! How do you think he will get on?
Go well Big Dunc. Certainly an interesting challenge he’s taking up, looking forward to seeing how he fares
Good luck to him, he clearly wants to make it as a manager
Didn't see this coming. Hope it goes better than his Forest Green stint...
Hayden Hackney should have come on for Everton against Chelsea
Moyes stated that he knew Norgaard wasn’t anywhere near fully match-sharp, and yet, he decided to throw him into the game anyway.
It was a baffling move from the manager, with Norgaard being a defensive midfielder and Everton chasing the game. And at that point, there was genuinely still a chance for Everton to get something from the contest.
Norgaard went on, and put in a dreadful cameo. It wasn’t really his fault, and he shouldn’t have been put in that position. The fact Moyes didn’t put Hackney on was just really strange.
And actually it was borderline insulting to Hackney. The 24-year-old has given a good account of himself in these opening weeks, and has easily shown himself to be a Premier League-standard player.
He is a very versatile midfielder, and that versatility allows him to be effective in and around the opposition box. He was the ideal player to bring on in that moment.
We all saw just weeks ago how Hackney came off the bench against Manchester United to make a major impact. He supplied the assist for Tyrique George to equalise, and then right at the death he was involved in the build-up to Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ goal.
Hackney metric Everton squad rank
Line-breaking passes per 90 – 17.4 #1
Accurate passes per 90 – 53.4 #2
Chances created per 90 – 2.4 =#3
via Fotmob, PL only
That was literal evidence of Hackney coming off the bench in a Premier League game with Everton trailing and him making an impact. So why on earth wasn’t he given the nod against Chelsea? He has every right to be annoyed.
Hackney hasn’t featured too much in the league so far, but still has a chances created per 90 metric of 2.4 (via Fotmob), which is the same as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and only slightly lower than Jack Grealish. He is also by far and away the best Everton player at making line-breaking passes, having a metric of 17.4 per 90. This data further suggests he just makes things happen.
Hopefully the snub will light a fire beneath him this week amid preparations for the Arsenal game.