View: Doucoure struggles v Chelsea despite big Everton win
Abdoulaye Doucoure arrived at Everton over the summer with a reputation for dynamic attacking play and powerful runs through the midfield.
He started the season off well but has struggled in recent weeks and was particularly poor with the ball at his feet on Saturday during the Toffees’ 1-0 win against Chelsea.
Frank Lampard’s side have made a great start to the season and they dominated the ball in this match, especially after they went down 1-0 early, but nonetheless the 27-year-old was wasteful.
Playing the full 90 minutes in central midfield, Doucoure completed just 65% of the 26 passes that he attempted, while he failed to make a single key pass. Both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Allan took more touches of the ball and passed with more accuracy than Doucoure, while the former Watford man did not complete a dribble (via WhoScored).
Defensively he was more involved, completing two tackles, two interceptions and four clearances, but he won just 50% of the aerial duels that he completed in, committed three fouls and was dispossessed once.
At Watford last season he took 1.6 shots and completed 1.1 dribbles and 1 key pass per game. This year, he is down to 0.8 shots, 0.6 dribbles and 0.9 key passes per game (via WhoScored).
Given that the Toffees paid £19.89 million (via Transfermarkt) for the Frenchman just a few months ago and given that he is now in his prime years aged 27, they will be expecting more.
Going forward, Doucoure needs to be more efficient with the ball at his feet while also recapturing the attacking flair that made him so dangerous at Watford. With Allan, the ideal defensive shield alongside him, the Rennes academy graduate was bought to be the driving force in the Everton central midfield, but thus far he has been unable to fulfil that role.
In other Everton news, how has Alex Iwobi adapted to his new wing-back role?