Michael Ball hails ‘perfect’ Donny Van de Beek Everton performance
Michael Ball says Donny Van de Beek’s ‘perfect’ performance for Everton against Leeds has cleared up any doubts he had about his signing in January.
Van de Beek completed a loan move from Manchester United on deadline day and made his first start for the Toffees in the 3-0 win over Leeds, earning huge plaudits for his performance on the day.
Former Blues defender Ball has now admitted in his Liverpool Echo column that he had some doubts about the signing initially, but a ‘perfect midfield performance’ from the 24-year-old has cleared up all of his concerns.
“My only concern with his signing was the same as many others,” he said. “We are in a relegation dogfight and was he the type of person who could roll his sleeves up and get stuck in?
“There is no doubting his footballing ability, but my only concern was whether he had the fight in him to help us move away from danger.
“But what we witnessed from him on Saturday was a perfect midfield performance. Everything about his game was great.
“He worked hard, put his foot in when required and showed plenty of composure on the ball and looked to get us moving up the pitch as fast and as often as he could.
“He made things look simple on Saturday because he was always making the right decisions, in and out of possession.”
Quality
Van de Beek brought an assured quality on the ball to the team that Everton have been missing all season in midfield.
His passing was excellent, he pressed well, he was influential all over the pitch and led by example in a performance that certainly had people questioning Man United’s decision to let him leave.
Playing in a deeper role he was able to sustain pressure for the Toffees against a troubled Leeds side and it paid dividends with a dominant performance over 90 minutes.
Lampard’s decision to make him his first signing of his tenure has already paid off as he has shown he has all the tools to add things to this Everton side.
It was the perfect start to his Everton career and the perfect midfield performance according to Ball, so fans can expect to be pleased by Donny going forward.
In other Everton news, Gary Neville makes Everton prediction in relegation battle verdict on Sky Sports