Everton signed Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure to reinforce the midfield
Everton’s laggard midfield last season was one of the main reasons for Everton’s slump and disappointing displays. Carlo Ancelotti revitalized the midfield to an extent in the summer transfer window, signing Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure, two talented midfielders with diverging credentials and a unique style of play.
The midfield that previously looked incompetent with Andre Gomes, Fabian Delph Tom Davies, and Gylfi Sigurdsson had been injected with soul and energy with Allan and Doucoure’s addition. Davies, the local boy, unlocked new levels of productivity under Ancelotti’s tutelage when Allan spent time on the treatment table, playing in the No.6 role and earning praises such as ‘Scouse Pirlo’.
Sigurdsson is a technical genius with astounding abilities from dead ball situations but he is not suited to play in the central midfield role. He doesn’t have the legs to run around the field for 90 minutes without losing intensity, which was one of the reasons why he was ineffective in the midfield role in 4-4-2 last term.
Fans will debate that Everton have been robbed of £8.5 million that they paid to Manchester City for Delph because most of them have never been able to see the Englishman play a run of games. Brought from City to instill the Champion mindset that Delph imbibed in Manchester, the 31 year old instead spends time in the shadows of injuries, so much so that his absence in the squad is becoming unnoticeable.