Jeff Stelling makes Joshua King-Everton suggestion
Jeff Stelling suggests Everton did not give Joshua King enough of an opportunity to impress last season during his brief stay on Merseyside.
King, 29, joined the Blues from Bournemouth in February on a short-term deal until the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
He made just 11 appearances and failed to score a single goal before joining Watford during the summer.
The Norwegian returned to haunt his former side last weekend as he struck a hat-trick for the Hornets in a 5-2 win at Goodison Park, and King took the opportunity afterwards to suggest that he was unfairly treated by ex-Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday a week later [30/10/21], Stelling delivered his verdict.
He said: “I mean goodness knows what the Everton fans were thinking about him, but as he said himself afterwards, he didn’t get a chance when he was there, he played 11 times and all off them off the substitutes bench and usually only for a couple of minutes.”
Ancelotti error?
The Italian tactician endured a dismal end to his Blues reign before he swapped Merseyside for Madrid in June.
A 5-0 final-day defeat at Manchester City and a 1-0 home loss to Sheffield United were real lowlights as Everton ended the 2020/21 campaign in meek fashion.
King failed to feature in any of their last four matches, only making the substitutes bench for two of them, and the club scored just once in that time.
Could King have made a difference? Perhaps, and that could have made a huge difference in Everton’s quest for European qualification.
As it is, Everton are now toiling without a competent centre-forward with Dominic Calvert-Lewin out injured.
Salomon Rondon is currently deputising but he has been unable to find his best form yet, and King showed at Goodison Park last weekend just what he can do.
In other Everton news, this injured Blues ace is set for an extended absence after a behind-the-scenes order.
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