Sean Dyche must be brave and ditch Idrissa Gueye for James Garner in Everton clash v Tottenham
Everton and Tottenham round off the Premier League weekend when they meet at Goodison Park on Monday [3 April] in a crucial game for both teams and Sean Dyche must be brave and ditch Idrissa Gueye.
Everton enter the contest on the back of accusations that they breached financial fair play rules, with the Premier League opening up an investigation [The Athletic, 24 March] which could see the Toffees deducted points.
Relegation and a potential administration have certainly been the hot topic of conversation in recent days with the club sitting just a point above the drop zone and Dyche will be under increasing pressure to secure the club’s Premier League status for next season.
The Toffees desperately need some points on the board to achieve that, starting against Spurs on Monday and Dyche will have some pivotal calls to make ahead of their 8:00pm kick-off and one of those key decisions should be dropping the declining Gueye.
The 33-year-old rejoined the Toffees from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £2m last summer as Frank Lampard attempted to rebuild his midfield for this season.
However, the Senegalese international has flattered to deceive on too many occasions this season, having created “more problems than he solves” according to The Athletic journalist Greg O’Keeffe.
The veteran’s woes have been laid bare by the fact that he has made three errors leading to goals so far this season, especially that catastrophic mistake against Arsenal in the 4-0 defeat at the start of March.
Gueye is certainly on the decline at Goodison Park, and already the decision to resign him last summer by Lampard and Toffees board is indeed an incredibly baffling one with the club desperately needing a much younger and fresher option to shield the back four.
And that could well come in the form of James Garner who should be handed a chance in Gueye’s place against Spurs. The 22-year-old has been limited to just six league matches since joining from Manchester United in the summer, having struggled with a back injury earlier in the season.
The former Nottingham Forest loanee is certainly a player for the future, but with the Toffees crying out for some quality and youthful exuberance alongside Amadou Onana and Abdoulaye Doucoure in the midfield, Dyche should be bold and start Garner moving forward, giving him the confidence and match practice needed to stake his claim as the future of the club’s midfield.
If Dyche can get Garner to the levels he showed last term while at Nottingham Forest, Everton could well be in very capable hands at the heart of their midfield for the foreseeable future as they try to navigate their way out of a troubling position in the relegation places.