Cup game big chance for some Everton players

Everton are facing a huge FA Cup tie at Goodison Park tomorrow as they play Manchester City for a place in the semi-finals.

There are again a number of injuries for Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti to cope with. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is out and he joins key midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure on the injured list.

So once again the Toffees boss will have to rely on some of his other squad players to try and beat City tomorrow. And this match represents another chance for several of them like Tom Davies to show they have a solid, long-term future under the Italian.

One of those is Alex Iwobi. I don’t know if Gylfi Sigurdsson will play in his place or how Ancelotti will set the Blues up, that seems to change every week and so it’s not certain that Iwobi will be picked to play again tomorrow.

If he is though he needs a big game, to put it mildly. Iwobi has again been very disappointing recently and he was in the Burnley match although to be fair he started reasonably well.

This season the former Arsenal player has produced better performances in matches this season when he has played earlier in the campaign.

This was when he was playing on the right of the team and for while this seemed to better suit him and he was able to contribute more than was the case last season.

However too often despite his strength and ability to carry the ball, take on opponents and commit them, he just doesn’t do enough or impose himself on the game and ends up drifting in and out too much. And as always his final ball is erratic.

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Before the Burnley match Iwobi was talking about wanting to play in his ‘preferred position’, which Ancelotti seemed to acknowledge was in the middle by playing him at the attacking point of his midfield diamond.

I found this exhange to be a little odd to be honest. Surely it’s ultimately for the manager to define where a player plays once he has assesed his qualities?

But anyway Ancelotti gave him a chance and he did ok there before then moving him back to the right as the Toffees were struggling to compete with the Clarets midfield four.

I really don’t know what to make of the Nigerian international and whether he should be perserved with or sold this summer, although the Blues are not likely to get anything near the money they paid for him if they do sell.

He has been better in past weeks but then just recently has reverted to the kind of frustratingly inconsistent performances that have so often characterised his time at Everton. Assuming he plays tomorrow, the match represents yet another chance for him to try and convice he has the abiltiy to make a contribution and to this team and a future at the club.