Dwight McNeil delights and frustrates Sky Sports pundit with wonderful Everton winner vs Brentford
Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison heaped praise on “elegant” Everton forward Dwight McNeil but urged him to score more goals after his strike against Brentford on Saturday [11 March].
The former Burnley winger’s scorching effort after just 35 seconds was enough to earn the Toffees a priceless three points over Brentford, moving them out of the relegation places on 25 points.
McNeil, signed by the Toffees last summer for £20m [BBC Sport, 28 July], notched his third goal of the season but his first since October and Morrison argued that the fleet-footed forward’s talents should warrant him more goals, especially after a “magnificent” one against the Bees.
Asked by Jeff Stelling live on Gillette Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports [11 March, 5:19 pm], if McNeil should get more goals, Morrison said: “Oh for sure, with his left foot playing higher up the field? He definitely should.
“He’s an elegant footballer. Listen, he likes to get half a yard and whip balls into the box but when you get into those positions, he should definitely be scoring more goals.
“Hopefully, this goal will give him confidence moving forward because the strike was magnificent. It has to be magnificent to beat a goalkeeper of David Raya’s quality so McNeil should definitely get more goals.”
Confidence boost
Morrison is absolutely right, a player of McNeil’s unique quality with that left foot should be getting him more goals, as well as assists.
The strike against Brentford was only his third of the campaign, and his first goal since 22 October in a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The former Burnley man is a key part of Sean Dyche’s squad, as he was at Burnley, and with the Toffees in a precarious position in the league the 23-year-old has got to be delivering the goods every week.
McNeil is an experienced Premier League player. Many forget that he’s a seasoned regular in the English top flight, appearing in over 160 games for both the Toffees and Burnley.
With that kind of experience, he should know how to make a telling difference consistently and Dyche will surely be demanding that from him for Everton in the coming weeks.