Alan Shearer calls out Abdoulaye Doucoure for what he did in Everton loss v Wolves on Boxing Day
Alan Shearer has criticised Abdoulaye Doucoure’s role in Wolves’ winning goal against Everton on Boxing Day, and admits he’s worried they could be relegated.
The Toffees threw away a 1-0 lead thanks to Yerry Mina’s header when they conceded a 94th-minute goal to Rayan Ait-Nouri after hoofing the ball long rather than being patient.
While appearing on Match of the Day (26 Dec, 23:56) Dion Dublin admitted that the Everton fans being restless may have cost the team, while Shearer was quick to point the finger at the Mali international for not being strong enough in the tackle just before the goal.
“Their backbone, Everton’s backbone, the fans got a bit restless,” he said.
“The players heard them getting a bit restless. They wanted to play a bit of football, the fans are saying get it forward quickly, and in the end it was a long ball forward, they didn’t quite keep hold of it. They wanted to find a way but they couldn’t.
“The fans are getting restless, they’re shouting. It’s a good ball, they just didn’t keep hold of it. When you lose the ball, it’s all about the recovery run.”
Shearer agreed, replying;
“This is where they’ll be really disappointed,” he said. “Doucoure loses the tackle, he didn’t put a strong enough tackle in. Then all of a sudden it’s four-against-two the other way then.”
When asked about their chances of survival, Shearer admitted he was concerned.
“Yeah I’m concerned, yeah,” he said. “They’ve only scored 12 goals Gary, that’s the big concern for me. Where are the goals going to come from?”
Trouble
There is big concern and lots of trouble brewing right now at Goodison Park, and it stems from the poor performances on the pitch.
Only 12 goals have been scored in 16 games so far this season, and our joint-top goalscorers have three goals each, so it’s hardly a surprise that fans get touchy when the team is passing the ball between themselves in our own half when we need a goal.
Ultimately going long and leaving ourselves exposed didn’t help at all on Boxing Day, but on another day we win those battles and score at the other end, but the commitment on the pitch just hasn’t been right.
We need points, with just one separating us from the relegation zone right now, and Frank Lampard needs to do more to get everything out of this Everton team.
Whether that’s dropping players, making surprise decisions, or being ruthless, it needs to change and it needs to change quickly or we are in big trouble.