The Liverpool Echo journalist Adam Jones has recently slated the central midfielders that Everton currently have in their squad.
During the 2019/20 Premier League season, five players played over five games in attacking midfield, defensive midfield or central midfield for the Toffees (per WhoScored).
Of those five midfielders, Gylfi Sigurdsson was the best performer over the duration of the season with a 6.65/10 average rating which made him only the joint-eighth-best performer in the entire squad of those to play over five league matches.
So, in the latest episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Jones discussed the club’s midfielders and slated them.
He said: “Especially in those games post-return from lockdown, I think you just looked at the central midfield area, especially when we were playing in [Carlo] Ancelotti’s preferred system of a 4-4-2, there was just so much wrong with the personnel that we had there.
“Obviously, we’ve got some top quality players in their own right, but they just don’t fit into that 4-4-2 system.
“Carlo Ancelotti spoke about wanting to bring more energy into the midfield, I just don’t think the likes of [Andre] Gomes and Tom Davies, let’s say, you’re not going to class them as energetic central midfielders, are you?”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he clearly believes that the Toffees do not have central midfielders capable of playing in a 4-4-2 system.
Should central midfield be the focal point of Everton's recruitment this summer?
No, needs to be elsewhere
Yes, it needs to be
The fact that the two players which Jones mentioned – Davies and Gomes – were the Toffees’ ninth-worst and seventh-worst performers in the league during the most recent season speaks volumes.
With Everton having been linked with transfer swoops for Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure this summer (per BBC), hopefully Ancelotti can bring in some player suitable for his system during the current transfer window.