Exclusive: Campbell hails Ancelotti for ‘Smart move’ after injury to Everton ace Allan
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Kevin Campbell supports Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to keep details about Allan’s injury away from the public domain after the Everton midfielder suffered a hamstring injury.
Allan, 29, missed the Toffees’ 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday but Ancelotti has admitted, via the Liverpool Echo, he doesn’t know how long the Brazilian will be sidelined for.
While Ancelotti did reveal Allan doesn’t need an operation, Campbell has suggested that the Italian is holding back information so there is less pressure on him to return.
“He’s a wily old manager – he’s not going to tell anybody the length of time unless it’s a bad one,” Campbell told Goodison News.
“Nobody knows and I think that’s the best thing because if it’s a bad one and it heals quickly, then he’s back quickly.
“It’s a smart move by the manager to not put time constraints on it because if he doesn’t meet them, then people will start calling him out.
“It’s smart management.”
Allan has been key to Everton’s strong start to the Premier League season by appearing in 12 league matches for the Merseyside club.
According to stats by WhoScored, no Blues player with more than five appearances this season has completed more tackles per game [3.4] than the Brazilian midfielder in the Premier League.
Allan also ranks third in the squad for dribbles per league game [1.7] while he also averaged 44.8 passes each time he talks to the field for the Toffees in the top-flight.
Everton showed on Saturday that they can win without the former Napoli midfielder in their side and we’ll be hoping they can do the same against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.
While we can win without him, we do want Allan to be back as soon as possible because he’s been superb in the midfield this season.
In other Everton news, Neville Southall has hailed Ancelotti for the Blues’ recent improvement.