One of the biggest problems facing Everton seems to be the lack of leadership in the first-team as the Blues struggle to find any winning form.
This is something that has been a developing problem for Everton over the course of the season. And it’s consequences are being seen in the collapse in the Toffees recent form.
The Liverpool Echo highlights this issue in an article that focusses on the lack of leadership and commitment from many Everton players in these games.
The Blues have seen their performances subside alarmingly in the past few weeks and as the Echo points out the team’s current situation is worryingly close to relegation form.
The paper features some comments from former Blues boss David Moyes about the kind of player Everton and their fans need to see. Those sort of players may have been of limited talent but made up for it with real work rate and commitment to the cause.
So why do the Toffees seem to lack leadership and any evidence of these qualities in the side?
There has been a huge amount of change in playing personnel and coaching staff in recent seasons. So it is difficult to build the necessary experience and consistency of selection that gives a player the ability to provide leadership.
The only current Everton players who might fit the bill are Leighton Baines or Phil Jagielka, but neither are now regular starters.
I also think there are fewer players being produced who have the qualities of natural leaders and the commitment to a club and it’s football traditions. Think of those one-club players, someone like Tony Adams at Arsenal.
Very few teams seem to bring through these type of footballers anymore as the nature of the domestic game has changed. There seems to be a lack of those kinds of abrasive but inspiring characters, (such as Roy Keane, or Patrick Viera), that could drive a team to success.
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The influx of an ever greater number of foreign players who obviously and understandably don’t share the same sense of identity to the clubs they play for, can partly account for this.
But foreign stars can of course be leaders and even home-grown players are also much more likely to move on to several clubs, possibly abroad too, before settling down. Very few Premier League teams also contain any players who have spent a real length of time at the club for example.
Whatever the exact reason it would surely help improve results if one or more of the current players could step up and take on such a role.