Gabriel Agbonlahor blasts Neal Maupay as not Premier League level ahead of Everton clash v Arsenal
Gabriel Agbonlahor has blasted Everton duo Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay for not giving the club enough during their relegation battle.
Calvert-Lewin has suffered massively with injuries in the last two seasons, while Maupay has managed just one goal since his summer transfer from Brighton in 19 appearances.
And speaking live on talkSPORT (1 March, 6:52), Agbonlahor claimed that Calvert-Lewin was “made of straw” and needs to play through the pain barrier for Everton while insisting that Maupay isn’t Premier League level.
“He can’t keep fit,” he said. “I said yesterday outside your gym, some players, you’d have played with them, when they feel something, ‘I’m not fit.’
“We had a defender at Aston Villa, Ron Vlaar, always injured. He felt his calf a little bit, ‘I’m not fit, I can’t play.’
“You know with some players Al, they’ll feel a little niggle and they’ll say, ‘you know what, strap it up I’m out there.’
“That’s what Sean Dyche needs from Calvert-Lewin. We need you out there. You can’t be like every little knock, ‘oh I’m injured’.”
He was then asked if he was calling Calvert-Lewin a “bottle job” live on air, but his response was arguably worse.
“I’m saying he’s made out of straw.
“He needs to get out there now. If he’s got these niggles, Everton need him. They’ve got nobody else.
“Neal Maupay is not a Premier League striker. They’ve got no one else. Simms is a good, young player but he’s not ready for the Premier League yet, probably.
“They need him out there.”
Bottle job?
Calvert-Lewin has long been accused of not being able to play through the pain barrier, but these injuries all seem to be long-term rather small knocks that keep him out for a game at a time.
The latest injury is a hamstring problem, which is usually a six-to-eight week layoff, so it’s not something that he can just play through.
But it does seem to happen far too often and the club should have cut their losses on him a long time ago, because he simply can’t be relied upon over the course of a season to score you goals.
As for Maupay, we’re still not sure what the board saw in him that convinced them to spend actual money on him. His overall movement is shoddy, his goal record is worse and he offers little to the team.
He’s clearly not good enough to make an impact for us, and considering where we are in the table it’s fair to say that Gabby is probably right about this one.