Sky Sports pundit mounts defence of Everton signing Dwight McNeil amid slow start
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
The lack of a striker at Everton has had the knock-on effect of derailing Dwight McNeil’s start with the club, according to Kevin Campbell.
The former Burley winger came in as a £20million signing from the relegated club, and immediately scored twice on his debut in the preseason, but as the Toffees have toiled with an incomplete line-up since the Premier League campaign started the 22-year-old has struggled to have an impact.
But Sky Sports pundit Campbell is still confident in the young Englishman’s ability and thinks the way that he plays has been completely undercut without a real centre-forward to work with, in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and amid zero minutes with Salomon Rondon.
To the question of whether the club have overpaid for a player that isn’t going to make an impact, he exclusively told Goodison News: “No I don’t think so. Dwight McNeil’s a really good player.
“I think the problem with Dwight McNeil has been a striker. Because the way Dwight McNeil plays, he’s got that educated left foot.
“He’s not a burner. He’s not somebody like Anthony Gordon who’s going to knock it past you on the outside and run you.
“He’s a continuity player. He’s good, he’s smart, he can play balls into the striker and get it back, and whip crosses in when he has time. But Everton haven’t had a focal point.
“As soon as you get a focal point in there it’s different. We saw him in preseason, his first game, as soon as he had a focal point in Dominic Calvert-Lewin he ended up scoring two goals.
“So he needs a focal point for his game. And I think the manager and the coaching staff, they’ve all realised that this is a player who definitely needs one. Some players can operate without it, he definitely needs a focal point.”
The irony is that McNeil and Rondon have been kept apart on the pitch, let alone Calvert-Lewin, as the ex-Claret was substituted for Dele Alli after an hour of the opening loss to Chelsea when the Venezuelan was suspended, then has been swapped for the striker in both of the subsequent games.
After starting the first two defeats, and being taken off at Aston Villa for Rondon’s first action of the year, it was the new signing that was sacrificed to bring the 32-year-old forward into the starting line-up against Nottingham Forest on Saturday (20 August), and then replaced him for the final half-hour.
So while it has been an inauspicious start to life at the club, the opportunity to feature in his preferred set up has completely alluded him.
If he could link up with Rondon or a new striker signing sooner rather than later to help get some more points on the board it will put a much more positive slant on the transfer window and the start of the season.