Everton podcaster Tony Scott has been sharing his thoughts on Toffees midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure and what this season could hold for him.
This comes after Scott made a guest appearance on a recent episode of Aston Villa-themed podcast Holtecast where he previewed Everton’s upcoming Premier League match against Dean Smith’s side.
During the podcast, Scott was speaking about the potential changes at Everton under new manager Rafael Benitez.
On the matter, Scott highlighted Doucoure, in particular, as a player that has changed in some regard from last season (9:35):
He said: “He’s a totally different player. He’s a box-to-box, he’s not been set to a different role. He’s not been set to like ‘there’s your back man in front of the back four;, he’s a box-to-box, he’s been licenced to roam and he is going to be a very, very key individual for Everton this season.
“I think whatever Everton do, it will hinge on him, he is the key man for Everton because I don’t think defenders or midfielders know how to pick him up because he’s all over the pitch.
“He’s not known as a fantastic creative midfielder, but he’s box-to-box and what he’s doing he’s getting Everton up the pitch and he’s creating chances, he’s scoring goals, he’s making assists and he’s very, very difficult to pick up.”
TIF Thoughts on Tony Scott’s comments on Abdoulaye Doucoure…
Everton signed Doucoure, who is currently valued at £22.5 million according to Transfermarkt, back in the 2020 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League club Watford for a fee of £19.89 million.
Given how the 28-year-old has already equalled the number of assists he managed to provide throughout the entirety of last season with three assists to his name and only needs one more goal to equal his goal tally from last season as well, this backs up what Scott had to say in the podcast about Doucoure getting into more attacking positions this season.
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Moving forward, if Doucoure can keep playing the way he has been under Benitez consistently for the rest of the season, he could well prove himself to be a vital figure for the team, especially in an attacking sense if he can keep scoring goals and providing assists.
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