Former Everton favourite Michael Ball has slammed Sam Allardyce for the way he sets up his side and revealed that he wasn’t keen to see the Toffees play under him next season.
Ball, who made over 100 appearances for Everton, went on a long rant about the way his former side played against Watford and directed a lot of his criticism at Allardyce.
“I know Sam came into the club to do a job but do we want to see this kind of football next season?” rhetorically asked Ball in his column for the Liverpool Echo.
“I know I don’t.
“Will he change his ways next season to take us to that next level?
“I’m very doubtful that Sam will do so, unless there is a big mentality change upstairs and in the dugout then it’s not something I want to keep watching next season.”
Ball then went on to state that he believes Allardyce was “setting out not to win games” with him just being happy to avoid defeat, and shared that simply wasn’t the Everton way.
The former favourite before ending his column, also shared that Allardyce comments in the media about recent performances, didn’t fill him with confidence either.
“Sam is an experienced manager and tries to say the right things so the right people can hear it but you cannot fool the fans,” stated Ball.
“The mentality and the negativity are what is frustrating me right now and I also want our players to play in their proper positions – Leighton Baines to come back, Gylfi Sigurdsson to play as No.10, and for us to go at teams and have a go.”
OPINION
Ball is spot-on with his assessment of Allardyce and the club really needs to hear his opinion. Everton are a team that are capable of pushing for European places but with the way they’re currently playing, they’re more likely to be consistently battling relegation instead. The recent 1-0 defeat to Watford was dire to watch as both sides clearly were happy to take a draw. It’s understandable why the Hornets were happy for a point, given that their squad on paper is clearly weaker than the Toffees. However, there was no reason why Everton shouldn’t have been pushing for all three points, as a loss still wouldn’t have put them in danger of relegation.