Jermaine Jenas blasts Everton star Dwight McNeil as ‘half-hearted’ footage shown on Match of the Day 2
Jermaine Jenas has blasted Everton star Dwight McNeil after “half-hearted” footage emerged of him not even watching the ball against Manchester United.
The Toffees’ four-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end against Erik ten Hag’s side on Sunday (26. November) with Sean Dyche’s side losing 3-0 to remain in the relegation zone following their 10-point deduction.
While Everton were repeatedly wasteful in the final third at Goodison Park, it was the defensive aspect of their game that frustrated Jenas, with McNeil singled out as one player who was “half-hearted” in his work out of possession.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 (26 November, 38:13) he said: “The emotion is a big thing for me and I just didn’t feel it on the pitch today, I didn’t feel the energy from the players. The body language, look at Dwight McNeil’s hardly looking at the ball here.
“On this occasion here, you’ve got three Everton players around the ball, I wouldn’t call it a press, they’re just there. Why are you not engaging now? Go. Dwight McNeil’s kind of had a half-hearted skip towards Dalot, Doucoure’s not even looking at the ball.
“There were too many things for me where you can sit there and feel like you’re in control, but what you’re doing is you’re giving Manchester United a lot of confidence on the ball.”
Must do better
It seems as though Dyche deliberately set up his Everton side to not actively try and press the Manchester United defence when they were in possession, as the entire frontline of the Toffees very rarely stepped up to engage with the back four.
But in a game where Goodison Park was rocking and the supporters were up for the clash after a difficult week on Merseyside, you would have thought it would have been a perfect opportunity for the Toffees to have stepped up and got in their opponent’s face.
Jenas pointed out that much of McNeil’s “half-hearted” ball-watching didn’t prove to be too costly for Everton in terms of the result of the match, but having viewed the footage it appears quite clear that he was told not to press by his manager.
When he did engage defensively, the 24-year-old was fairly impressive, winning his only tackle and two of his three ground duels. It wasn’t a perfect afternoon for McNeil or Everton by any stretch of the imagination, but if they want to avoid the drop, they’ll have to put it behind them and move on.
In other Everton news, David Ornstein has offered his verdict on the outcome of the Toffees’ point deduction appeal