David Moyes was asked directly about Iliman Ndiaye’s form after Everton’s defeat to Sunderland – and his answer will surely annoy fans, and possibly Beto too.
Everton fell to a 3-1 defeat against Sunderland on Sunday.
The Toffees had the chance to go into the last game with European football still a possibility,
How do you even sum that up? 😡
Everton end their home campaign on a whimper 😫
But Everton came up woefully short against the Black Cats, losing 3-1 despite taking the lead again.
And it was yet another poor performance from Iliman Ndiaye, whose lack of ruthlessness in front of goal proved costly.
Just as it has in previous games.
And after the game, Moyes was asked about his winger’s form.
David Moyes swerves Iliman Ndiaye criticism as Everton lose to Sunderland
Speaking after the game, Moyes said in his press conference: “I think really, those players have been so good for us in the early part oft he season. In the second-half of the season they’ve looked as if they’ve just ran out of goals. Mainly from the likes of Ili, Kiernan a little bit as well.
“I think Ili especially has had big opportunities in a few of the games, which in the past we’ve seen him score. he scored a great goal against Chelsea here. But since then, we’ve had quite a lot of opportunities in games and we’ve not bee able to take them to win games, which we’ve needed.
“As you know, we’ve not been overly generous with our centre-forward goals so, it’s been Kiernan and Iliman who’ve been required to step up for us mainly. Both have sort of just dried up in the last month or so.”
What would you say to Angus Kinnear after THAT loss to Sunderland? 😤
Something has to change… 😭
This was perhaps Moyes’ chance to send a message to Ndiaye, who has not been good enough for Everton of late.
The winger has spurned glorious chances and yet, there seems to be no repercussions. He always starts, and seems to be living off past performances right now, with Moyes pointed to goals he’s scored earlier in the campaign.
Food for thought for Beto
One man who could be forgiven for feeling slightly irked by these remarks is Beto.
Beto came in for some surprise criticism after Everton’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, against whom the striker scored a terrific goal to make it five in five.
After that game, Moyes still called Beto ‘limited’ in terms of his play, and said ‘I’ll need him to score a few more between now and the end of the season’. It felt unnecessarily harsh.
That was criticism for a player who has actually been in the goals for Everton, versus no criticism for a player who has squandered chance after chance after chance in recent weeks.
Perhaps there’s an element of not wanting to ‘upset’ Ndiaye ahead of the summer transfer window, because he’s obviously a top player on his day.
But Moyes does risk irking others in the squad by lacking consistency with his criticism.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
