It is safe to say that Everton fans are not very impressed with Dwight McNeil.
The winger is in the middle of his fourth season with the Toffees after joining the club from Burnley.
And a lot of Everton fans are now hoping it will be his fourth and final, with many of the opinion he’s dropped one too many stinkers.
Dwight McNeil surely has to be dropped after his display vs Leeds doesn’t he, Everton fans?! 🤔
The winger was hooked at half-time as David Moyes changed the system…
McNeil’s latest performance came against Leeds, against whom he was preferred to Tyler Dibling on the right side.
And it was a game to forget, with David Moyes hooking him at half-time.
McNeil enraged Everton fans after his lack of tracking on the Leeds goal – and now, former defender Michael Ball has slammed the winger.
Michael Ball rips into Dwight McNeil amid Everton struggles
McNeil looks set to stay at Everton beyond the January transfer window, having previously been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest.
The injury to Jack Grealish means a departure is now unlikely, with Moyes needing the depth.
But many Everton fans will still hope he doesn’t as many minutes as he has lately – and Michael Ball seems to share that feeling.
Writing in his latest Liverpool Echo column, he said: “We want to see ability and skill, but most of all, we expect our players to put in the hard yards. I keep harping on about this every week in my column, but it should be a given at Everton Football Club and I think that’s a given under David Moyes.
“Unfortunately, it looked like Dwight McNeil decided he didn’t want to do it. There was one challenge that looked like a 60-40 in his favour to win it, but he seemed to hold back.
“It was an opportunity for Everton to climb up the table and to go within one point of our arch rivals while also turning our home form around. When we saw the line-up and the bench, I think it got a lot of Evertonians excited with some players we perhaps weren’t expecting to see back so soon after coming back from injury.
“The question mark when we saw that team though was over where Dwight McNeil was going to play. David Moyes has said in the past that it’s his work-rate that has given him his chance in the starting line-up but it was disappointing to see him continuing on the right wing.
“Like myself, Dwight is really left-sided. You can tell both on and off the ball that he’s a bit lost on that side of the pitch over where to be and when to run although the manager might point out that Dwight has been involved in a couple of goals while he’s been on that side.”
Everton must upgrade on McNeil in 2026
McNeil’s performance against Leeds woeful, and there have been far too many of those in recent times.
It is paramount that Everton land an upgrade on McNeil this year, because not only does he not score or assist, but we also saw against Leeds that he can have defensive lapses.
How much could Everton sell Dwight McNeil for?
Sadly McNeil has struggled to show a high level for a long time now.
Moyes needs to show more faith in Tyler Dibling as he is a player much more worthy of investment, and then in the summer, the club need to sell McNeil and bring in a player who can provide goals and assists, but also not shirk defensive responsibilities.
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