Andy Townsend hits out at Idrissa Gana Gueye after ‘sloppy’ moment v Newcastle United
Andy Townsend has hit out at Idrissa Gana Gueye after the Everton midfielder was yellow carded in the second half of the Toffees’ Premier League match against Newcastle.
Gueye was booked in the 64th minute for preventing a Newcastle counterattack after a lapse in concentration on the ball.
Townsend wasn’t impressed by the summer signing’s poor play and expected better from the experienced midfielder.
“Quite rightly shown a yellow card, Gana Gueye, it’s sloppy and too casual, he’s far better than that,” he said (Amazon Prime, 20:25, 19 October).
“He doesn’t have the full picture in his mind and he’s not really sure what he’s doing with it.”
Needs to adjust
You simply cannot spend that much time on the ball in the middle of the pitch in a Premier League game and expect to get away with it. Perhaps playing in Ligue 1 for PSG has seen Gueye lose some of his urgency. He simply wasn’t up to the level required in the second half in particular.
It was a disappointing night on the whole for the Toffees who lacked a real cutting edge in front of goal at St James’ Park. The Magpies boast the best defensive record in the Premier League, but Frank Lampard’s side have now only scored one goal in their last three games and that’s a concern.
A good defensive record will be the base of any successful season, but the Toffees still need to offer more going forward in order to challenge in the top half of the table in the 2022/23 campaign. There was an opportunity for Everton with Newcastle missing a couple of key players on Wednesday evening.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was ineffectual and off the pace against Eddie Howe’s side and the Toffees looked far more dangerous against Tottenham when they operated with a three-at-the-back system. There’s certainly some food for thought for Lampard going forward.