Everton fans are now picking the bones out of that seven-game winless run, and one man who struggled to show his usual level was Iliman Ndiaye.
The Toffees missed out on European football in the end, with a variety of factors at play.
David Moyes had Everton in a very promising position after the last international break.
What concerns do you have about Iliman Ndiaye leaving Everton in the summer?😫
Surely Everton must hand him a new contract!
But the team’s loss of defensive stability, combined with some poor decisions, both by referees and Moyes himself – proved costly.
Ultimately, Everton were very wasteful in the final third.
And the form of Iliman Ndiaye has moved into the spotlight.
Iliman Ndiaye should have been rotated more for Everton by David Moyes
Ndiaye is Everton’s gamechanger, but he finished the season with a string of ineffective performances.
But there can perhaps be some sympathy for him, because towards the end it was clear that he was looking jaded.
In the Premier League in 2025/26, Ndiaye played 2789 minutes, which is a heck of a lot considering he went away to the AFCON tournament. That saw him miss six league games.
Despite being away for that tournament, only two other wingers in the league played more minutes than him; Jarrod Bowen (3409) and Antoine Semenyo (3205).
However, Ndiaye did play a further 440 minutes at AFCON, missing just one game out in Morocco.
Playing as a winger is demanding, as there is so much running involved and to his credit, Ndiaye does work very hard when he plays.
How much would it take for Everton to accept a bid for Iliman Ndiaye? 💷
David Moyes said every player has his price… 😫
Indeed, recently Thierry Henry praised Ndiaye’s work rate, and it’s never been in doubt that he’ll track back and press.
With Ndiaye’s style of play, it is little wonder that he ran out of steam towards the end of the campaign.
Moyes really missed a trick by not rotating him more.
It’s understandable he wanted to keep Ndiaye on the pitch as often as possible, given how he can unlock defences and change games in an instant.
But Ndiaye’s form hadn’t been good arguably since coming back from AFCON, and perhaps his wastefulness in front of goal could be put down to not being as sharp – both physically and mentally – as he would like.
Tyrique George was right there to be used, and the youngster did look really good coming off the bench in games.
Ndiaye should have been rotated more with George to keep him fresher.
Had Moyes done this, we may now be having a very different conversation about Everton’s end to the season.
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