Everton and Koeman Wrong About Hull Hero Niasse

Niasse, lockerless and deflated, was booted out of Everton Football Club this season to join Hull. He has been a transfer that has earned Silva praise, much to the surprise of most Evertonians, after scoring pivotal goals throughout 2017. So after being considered one of Everton’s worst ever signings, is he really as bad as everyone thought?

With Niasse unfairly receiving a red card, Hull’s game plan could have been severely influenced, to the extent of talks that Silva needed to find someone who can fill his role. Hernandez could do this, but the fact that Hull need to search for someone to imitate his role tells us a lot. When the appeal for his red was successful, Hull fans were elated.

I have actually never been of the opinion that he is abnormally awful at football, but he undeniably had some stinkers during his restricted time at Everton. In hindsight we can see that the main issue for Niasse was not a lack of talent, but rather that he was simply a poor fit for us.

Niasse at Hull is very much the end product, he isn’t racking up the assists, or considered excellent at hold up play. Instead he is used to hassle the defenders, get inside the box, and get on the end of anything Hull can supply him with. In this set up and given these responsibilities, he has become a match winner for Hull, and has been a big factor in the widely praised success of Marco Silva this season.

HULL, ENGLAND – MARCH 11: Oumar Niasse of Hull City celebrates as he scores their second goal during the Premier League match between Hull City and Swansea City at KCOM Stadium on March 11, 2017 in Hull, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /

His responsibilities are significantly different to what they were at Everton, Martinez brought him in thinking he could contribute to the build up play, and slot into a possession based style of football. In the same way the likes of Lukaku, Mirallas or Valencia are involved in intricate passing plays, or expected to split a defense on the break by passing in the channels, Niasse was expected to follow suit.

So after months of not being able to fit into what Martinez wanted in training, he didn’t get much game time, as would be expected of anyone who cannot do what the manager wants. So after this long stint of neglect, and failing to impress when he did get a game, Koeman came in and things got worse. /

He isn’t a pain in Niasse after all.

From Koeman’s perspective, you come in and find a misfit striker who cannot play the style of football the rest of the club plays, what do you do? You get rid. It could have been done with much more tact admittedly, but it was for the best, it is the Dutch way.

So we see Niasse is clearly not a bad player, he simply could not fit into the mould of a highly technical side such as Everton. I expect we will sell him in the summer and make all our money back.

Up the Ev.

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