Donny van de Beek’s Everton career typified by West Ham injury
Sunday was not the Funday Frank Lampard was hoping for as Everton suffered a 2-1 defeat away at West Ham to be kept in the relegation fight.
Things started going pear-shaped before the game even started for the Toffees as Donny van de Beek pulled up injured in the warmup.
Lampard confirmed, via Everton’s Twitter, that the Dutchman had suffered a muscle injury but the extent of it was as yet unknown.
This is just so typical of van de Beek’s time at Everton so far that it probably didn’t surprise that many people when the news broke pre-kick-off.
The 24-year-old’s arrival at Goodison Park was met with understandable enthusiasm from supporters as he had been shackled to the Old Trafford bench for years prior to the move.
This was supposed to be his big chance to finally emerge from the shadows at Manchester United and rediscover the form that saw him be a star player for Ajax on their way to the Champions League semi-finals.
His quality is absolutely undeniable and his displays at Ajax were as good as any individual could play, dominating Real Madrid like no other player has been able to in years.
But his time on Merseyside has been anything but Champions League worthy and this latest setback puts the cherry on top of the awful cake that is this season.
He’s not lit up Goodison Park like we had all hoped but he did show glimmers of hope and if he had a remotely capable team around him, he would be a star in dictating the tempo of the game.
But he now looks set for a spell on the sidelines and maybe the Premier League just isn’t for him.
If the option came to return to Ajax right now, you would think he’d accept it without too much thought just to get out of this country, given how poorly it’s gone for him.
In other Everton news, this stat about the Toffees and Lampard is a huge eye-opener for everyone at the club.
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