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Doucoure now latest injury headache for Everton boss

By Matt Townsend

West Ham United's Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek (L) vies with Everton's French midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure (C) during the English Premier League football match between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on October 17, 2021. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
West Ham United's Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek (L) vies with Everton's French midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure (C) during the English Premier League football match between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on October 17, 2021. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images) /
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As if things couldn’t get any more diffcult on the injury front Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure has now suffered a foot injury.

As yet we don’t know the full extent or seriousness of Doucoure’s problem but Everton manager Rafa Benitez needs this news like a hole in the head.

The club say it’s not likely to need surgery and that’s something positive as the Frenchman has been in superb form this season revelling in the much more flexible, attacking role he has played in Benitez’s new look Blues side.

This has played to the languid ex-Watford player’s strengths; his pace, energy, powerful running and ability to create and score goals.

He’s netted twice and made four assists already this season, joint second in the Premier League. But, now he won’t be able to take to the pitch against his former team on Saturday and who knows for how long after that.

The 28-year-old’s setback comes on top of the other recent lengthy injury list with captain Seamus Coleman, strikers Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Doucoure’s fellow midfielders Andre Gomes, Fabian Delph and of course, Jean-Philippe Gbamin all out.

All these players have been hurt and out for several weeks and in Coleman’s case although he’s now fit again he only returned to the team last weekend.

Both the club’s first-choice forwards are still a doubt for Saturday with Gomes and Delph still out and Gbamin just returned and now Benitez is facing losing one half of his central midfield starting pair. We have to hope that it’s not too serious a problem.

Presumably Gbamin will be the obvious option to replace Doucoure as he offers a similar sort of box-to-box type of midfielder although Benitez could also opt for Tom Davies.

With Gbamin’s quite extraordinary bad luck with injury over the last eighteen months, I wouldn’t bet on him not picking up a knock in training or something before the weekend.

The litany of injury issues the Toffees have experiences recently seems to be getting worse and it begs the question, why is this happening so often?

Every team suffers injuries of course and last season Everton had virtually every first team player injured at one point or other during the campaign. Wee it seems to be happening again this term.

It’s true that last season was a bit unusual because of the fixture congestion that resulted from the Covid suspensions, but unending injuries seems to be a particular problem for the Blues. Will Everton ever get a break from these sorts of problems and what does Benitez do now?