Alcaraz blows away Paul Merson after what he did in Everton v Bournemouth, ‘Phenomenal’
Paul Merson was amazed by one moment in particular from Carlos Alcaraz, despite Everton exiting the FA Cup with defeat to Bournemouth.
Everton failed to impress against Bournemouth and were certainly deserving of the 2-0 loss at Goodison Park on Saturday (8 February).
Bournemouth were gifted their goals from individual errors and the Toffees failed to offer any real attacking threat when getting into advanced areas of the pitch.
Alcaraz, having joined Everton on deadline day, was introduced as a second-half substitute, having an immediate impact on the game while leaving Merson stunned after one particular moment.
Paul wowed by Carlos Alcaraz impact
As soon as Alcaraz was introduced, Everton received an injection of quality in the midfield area and it certainly didn’t go without notice, with Merson immediately highlighting the impact he made.
That came after the former Southampton ace hit the crossbar from a free-kick late on in the contest.
Speaking on Sky Sports News (8 February, 4:31pm), Merson said: “Alcaraz does some brilliant play on the halfway line. He goes through two players, gets to the edge of the box and gets brought down.
“He steps up to take the free-kick and bends it around the wall. The keeper just stands there as the ball hits the post. It’s phenomenal. In the few minutes since he’s come on, this kid looks very good.”
Despite the defeat, there was plenty of promise to take away from his own performance with it certainly putting him in good stead for a start in Everton’s next encounter against Liverpool.
Everton crash out of FA Cup
Based on the performance, Everton certainly didn’t deserve to have their name in the hat for the next round of the FA Cup, but it may be a positive in other ways.
It now leaves them with one competition to focus on for the remainder of the season as Everton look to strengthen their survival hopes.
Given the lack of squad depth, a cup run would have only hampered their chances of fighting off relegation but it certainly highlighted the need for a big summer transfer window.
Focus can now turn purely to steering clear of the bottom three, with Everton nine points above the drop zone with a game in hand.