The Everton pairing Louis Saha branded one of the best he’s ever seen in football

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Everton fans have been treated to some fantastic players over the years.

Goodison Park is now hosting its final games before the club moves to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, and it has certainly played host to some fabulous stars.

And there have also been some really good pairings in blue shirts.

Mikel Arteta and Marouane Fellaini spring to mind, as do Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distain, and more recently, James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite.

But for Louis Saha, there was a pairing back when he played for the Toffees that he felt was one of the best he’s seen.

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Louis Saha named one Everton pairing as one of the best he’s seen in 2020 interview

Louis Saha signed for Everton in 2008, signing a two-year, pay-as-you-play deal after injury problems at Manchester United.

Saha enjoyed four years at Goodison, making 115 appearances and scoring a respectable 34 goals.

Back in 2020, Saha sat down for an interview with TNT Sports to pick his ultimate Everton XI, consisting of players he played with, and current players.

His side was as follows:

• GK – Tim Howard
• RB – Seamus Coleman
• CB – Phil Jagielka
• CB – Sylvain Distin
• LB – Leighton Baines
• RM – James Rodriguez
• CM – Mikel Arteta
• CM – Marouane Fellaini
• LM – Steven Pienaar
• ST – Richarlison
• ST – Louis Saha

As he chose Pienaar as his left winger, Saha said: “As I said, I’ve seen these players like Baines and Pienaar… for me, it was one of the best (pairings) I’ve seen play. It was just a joy to see those two.

“They knew each other, they could close their eyes and find themselves.”

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What David Moyes said about Baines and Pienaar

It was a joyful experience for Everton fans to watch Baines and Pienaar back in the day.

The pair made for a cracking combination down the left and helped transform David Moyes’ side.

The importance of the pair was never lost on Moyes, who talked about them when he gave a tactical masterclass to The Coaches Voice in 2019.

He said: “In the end, this partnership between Steven Pienaar and Leighton Baines will be very hard to improve on. Their ability to find each other with the ball, they wanted to play and combine together, their combination play down the left was exceptional.

“We found that we always wanted Pienaar to lock on and encourage the full-back to follow him in. If the full-back chose not to come, we were happy for the combination between Baines and Pienaar to get on the ball.”