I don't want Iliman Ndiaye doing what he did at West Ham - Everton should try something new

I felt that it was important for everyone at Everton Football Club that we didn’t lose that game at West Ham though going into the international break but for me it was also an opportunity lost for Sean Dyche to try something different.

We missed Dwight McNeil, especially from the set-pieces and we know that Abdoulaye Doucoure has got the legs and the energy to get around the pitch, but although he finds himself in good positions, he’s often unsure with what to do with it when he gets there and we’ve got two other players who he started with, Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom, who are both pushing and trying to be that number 10.

When you look at the attacking threats going forwards, it’s pretty non-existent. You struggle to see any patterns of play and when we do, it doesn’t look smooth like there is any togetherness.

Doucoure had his opportunity to go through, but the pass seemed to be a bit too slow, and his touch wasn’t good enough, so West Ham’s players got back to block his shot. I feel that if Ndiaye or Lindstrom were in that role, they’ve got the quality in their final pass and that cleverness to find the space and open up defenders.

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Doucoure doesn’t have that, it’s not his game. Okay, if you want to start Ndiaye on the left then fair enough but just try him in a more central role for at least 10 or 15 minutes.

You can see Ndiaye getting a bit frustrated when he’s out wide, blocked off, and wants to creep inside and get involved in the play. His work ethic is fantastic, and I saw his heat map at West Ham and he was basically playing like a left wing-back.

While that’s great and commendable for him, I don’t want him doing that. If I was Vitalii Mykolenko at left-back, I’d be telling him to go away and trust me to defend.

When he receives the ball, I don’t want him to have to run 30-40 yards with the ball before he’s even getting into their half. He did that a couple of times at West Ham.

If I was an Everton player, I’d be trying to get the ball to him as much as possible, because he’s the one who has got the magic to open defences up. I think that number 10 role would suit him.

Dyche has said that the number 10s are now are not like the old school ones who wouldn’t be expected to track back, but Ndiaye has shown that he’s got the quality to do that.

If the manager doesn’t want to make substitutions then that’s fine but he can still change the personnel on the pitch by swapping players over. I think that’s something that Dyche has to learn, he needs to trust these players to go and win him football games.

It was a dull watch, and I don’t want to go in, all guns blazing but our decision-making in the final third always lets us down. There’s no rhythm and either our final pass is not good enough or it’s the wrong choice.

We’re hanging on for set-pieces. I know they’re important and Dyche likes them too, but he’s got a couple of weeks now to work on our general play and trying to break down the lines because if we’re not breaking down lesser teams, I’ve not expecting us to break down the top teams when we play them.

We’ve let poor teams dictate the play against us and have too much time on the ball. When you do that against good players, then they’re going to hurt you even more.

I thought the lads started pretty well, although you could see that both teams are shot in terms of confidence right now. We were doing ok, but we just needed that bit more belief and bravery to get at West Ham.

I always talk about the need to smell blood and there was an opportunity for the home fans to turn a bit toxic and keep the pressure up on them. After that, I felt that the game passed us by a bit and after the hour mark, West Ham started to get a bit more belief as they made the substitutions a bit earlier and that changed the momentum.

The positives are that it’s one defeat in seven games, we got a clean sheet and a point away from home, but ultimately it’s all down to Jordan Pickford. He’d had a pretty quiet game for most of the first half and then just before the break he had to make a couple of good saves and from that moment onwards, he was just at it and showing why he’s England’s number one.

At the end, he produced one of the best saves I’ve seen it a long time. It was Neville Southall-esque.

We’ve got Jordan to thank for salvaging another point but when you look back, you’ve got to think ‘what is Dyche trying to achieve now?’ Is he happy with the set-up? Is he happy with the personnel?

Opponents will struggle now Branthwaite is back

It was a huge boost for Everton to have Jarrad Branthwaite in the starting line-up again and while we knew he wasn’t going to be 100% and he’d be shaky at times as he’s got to get back to that match rhythm, he gives you that absolute assurance when he’s passing the ball around at the back. He’s got that ability to put his foot on it and find a pass with the link-up play to his team-mates either side of him.

Jarrad brings balance to our team when he receives the ball and he’ll play through the lines, going up the field some 10-15 yards to drive with it. When you see him on the pitch in that royal blue jersey, you think the opposition are going to struggle to get opportunities as he gives us that quality that’s been lacking.

It was great to see him back and hopefully he’ll get some more minutes for England Under-21s and he’ll come back a lot sharper for the busy festive period.