Everton, over the last few years of relegation turmoil, have been presented with some supremely stressful situations.
After all, such is the emotional toll that such this can have on a club and its fanbase, their frustrations spilling over into protest against their own board and the Premier League are arguably well-justified.
Alas, there are a few key figures around Goodison Park who have not aided in this combined effort to progress the club, arguably acting as detractors.
Farhad Moshiri, after the way he has run the Toffees, is one such example, much-maligned on Merseyside now.
However, another example on a far lesser scale is Neal Maupay, who has once again returned to speak about his torrid time at Goodison.
Neal Maupay explains why he left Everton
The Frenchman joined Everton back in 2022 as part of Frank Lampard’s one and only summer in charge of the club.
Having just steered them to safety in the most dramatic of fashions, with a historic comeback from 2-0 down against Crystal Palace, there was renewed optimism that he, a supposedly young and progressive manager, might finally be able to lead them into a brighter future.
However, his managerial deficiencies became abundantly clear early on in the season, and thus the team endured a pretty unforgiving run of form.
Maupay struggled throughout, and his time at Everton only got worse when Sean Dyche was appointed due to their contrasting styles.
Finally, in the summer just gone, he departed for good, and has since told the French media: ‘Supporters like to discuss, criticise, and celebrate and it doesn’t bother me because I consider myself a normal person and if everyone can tweet I can do it too.
‘I published a funny little video because my situation at Everton was known, I wanted to leave and the club didn’t want to keep me. So this little video was to say that I was relieved to leave the club.’
Everton and Neal Maupay were never going to work together
Everton and Maupay were unlikely to ever be a good match for one another, and that was a notion only emphasised upon Dyche’s arrival.
A no-nonsense manager who remains very forthright and steadfast to the system he likes to play, there are certain types of players who fit within his philosophy.
Unfortunately for the 28-year-old, a 5 foot 8 forward who offers little physical presence was not one of them.
Having shone at Brighton and Hove Albion as the nagging thorn in opponents’ side, he could not really compete with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and later Beto when it came to assets that Dyche preferred.
His tendency to frustrate fans only worsened his chances of success, with Maupay’s controversial goodbye post to Everton offering a microcosm of his time there.
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