Sean Dyche given Everton selection headache after what Orel Mangala did for Belgium
Orel Mangala had a poor outing for Belgium in their 2-1 Nations League loss against France on Monday (14 October).
The European rivals faced one another on Monday night and although the scoreline may make the game seem like it was close, in reality that’s far from the case.
Mangala started the game but was taken off in the 67th minute after struggling in Brussels.
Sean Dyche stuck with Everton selection dilemma
Managers want to have selection dilemmas when players are in form but Mangala’s outing will have given him a different problem.
Mangala was brought in over the summer on an initial loan deal with the Toffees having a £33.7million buy option included if they choose to activate it [Florian Plettenberg, 27 August].
Following his international performance on Monday, which was deemed a “disaster” by Belgian media, Dyche now finds himself with the problem of having two midfielders in poor form with Idrissa Gueye not doing much better.
As per Sofascore, Mangala found himself hooked in the 67th minute as he only managed 23 touches of the ball, less than all of Belgium’s starting XI, aside from Lois Openda.
He did manage to retain a 100 per cent pass accuracy but none of the 18 passes he attempted were deemed to be key passes.
In terms of aerial and ground duels, the midfielder failed to attempt any in the air and only won 40% of those he attempted on the ground.
In addition, he managed to lose possession of the ball once and only managed to make two tackles.
He did clear the ball on one occasion and also intercepted an opponent’s pass once in the game but it’s clear to see how lacklustre his performance was.
Mangala has had a run in the team under Dyche recently but his performance for Belgium will have certainly been a concern and it might make a change for this weekend’s clash against Ipswich (19 October) inevitable.
Tim Iroegbunam was brought in over the summer for a fee worth around £10million [Fabrizio Romano, 21 June] and looked decent at the start of the season before dropping to the bench in the past three games.
It could be that he decides to bring the 21-year-old back into the fold against the Tractor Boys.
In other Everton news, an update on the injury status of Iliman Ndiaye has been shared.
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