Everton 2020-21 season player review

Allan – 7/10

Brazilian Allan was a high-profile summer signing and he has justifed his billing with some very strong and energetic performances this past campaign. He has injected quality and experience into a previously weak midfield.

But as with many others he has been significantly hampered by injuries and this together with his having to play as a deep lying defensive midfielder has undermined his effectiveness.

This has raised further questions about whether he can be the lynchpin player and also if that is the best role for him anyway as we’ve not seen much of his technical and creative ability. Hopefully he can stay healthy and be more influential next season.

Abdoulaye Doucure – 7/10 

Doucoure was the other big midfield addition and like Allan he has settled in well and produced some very strong and consistent performances throughout most of the season.

The Frenchman is not the best technically and sometimes he is guilty of giving the ball away too cheaply. However, his athleticism, tireless work-rate and commitment has been excellent and has provided Everton with much-needed energy and competitiveness.

The measure of his impact was how much weaker and lacklustre the Toffees midfield was when he was missing over the final month or so of the season. Again though like Allan the team need more offensively from him next season.

Tom Davies – 6/10

There are still many Evertonians who are not convinced by the Liverpool-born player who has had a difficult time establishing himself in this Blues side.

It’s been hard to identify what qualities Davies offers this side. The instinctive attacking player who first burst onto the scene has more or less gone and he has become a more defensive type who can sit and break up play and then pass reasonably well and consistently. He was doing that quite successfully in the second half of the campaign.

But the question is is he good enough to be a regular starting player in that sort of number six role? For me the anwer is no and Everton need to invest in another dynamic, defensive powerhouse if the club come to feel Jean-Philippe Gbamin cannot be relied upon.

Andre Gomes – 4/10

I feel generous giving Gomes a four as I think he’s been pretty dreadful most of the season. He began fairly well but then has been in and out of the team offering very little offensively and seeming to be significantly inhibited by the after affects of his injury in November 2019.

The technically outstanding, ball-carrying midfielder we saw glimpses of when he first joined the club has disappeared, for good it seems.

Instead we now have a slow, indecisive and at times disinterested player. If an offer comes in for him this summer I think the club should sell.

Gylfi Sigurdsson – 5/10 

The veteran Icelander has had a statistically decent season with six goals and five assists, not bad figures, and so on the surface he appears to have done well.

But again this can be slightly deceptive. Too often he’s been a slow and ineffective performer who has been unable to adequately influence matches. The modern game passes him by too much and like Gomes his football is too static and slow for what the Blues need.

Ancelotti seems to like him though and I suspect he won’t be on the list of those players Marcel Brands looks to move on in this window.

Alex Iwobi – 4/10 

What more can you say about the enigma that is Alex Iwobi? He came with a hugely inflated fee and has failed to justify it time and time again.

He has the right physical qualities with the size, strength and pace to be a bulldog of an attacking player but while he occasionally carries the ball with real menace, almost always there is no end product and he drifts out of so many matches that your sometimes not even sure he’s been on the pitch.

There was a brief period when he seemed to find some kind of form but it wasn’t sustained. So many chances and so little to show for it in the end. He is surely one player the Blues brass will be looking to sell this summer, if they can.