Mirallas Still Paying The Price For That Penalty

It was a Monday night on the 19^th January 2015. Everton were sitting in 13^th place, only 3 points above the relegation zone and had just been knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham. Everton, desperate for any kind of spark won a penalty just before half time with Barkley, Baines and Lukaku all on the pitch.

Instead of any of those players, up stepped a man who started the season as a fan favourite but annoyed many the month before by announcing his intention to seek Champions League football and a player who was just about to change his whole perception with one egotistical kick off the ball. The fans in the stands were confused, as were the players and the manager. As the ball clipped the outside of the post it seemed like all the negativity around the way the team was playing was encapsulated in that one moment. If Martinez was publicly supportive, he was clearly privately livid with being let down by one of his key players. Here is a killer stat: Mirallas has not played 90 minutes in a league game for Everton since that moment.

Soon after that point Aaron Lennon settled in and was Martinez’ 1^st choice winger. Everton’s results improved and the pressure eased on the manager. It seems Martinez has neither forgave nor forgot Mirallas for that error and neither really have the fans. He seemed destined to leave in the summer but a repairing of the relationship meant that Mirallas signed a new contact and showed an increased sense of commitment to the club that he seemed to have lost.

Mirallas has always been an inconsistent player for Everton but when he’s good, he’s unstoppable. He plays with a fire and aggression which was loved by Evertonians and had all the ingredients or fan adulation: Passion for the club, a high work rate and most importantly, he won us matches. All that seemed to fade away last season but with the contact situation sorted and relationship issues solved with Martinez, there was optimism that the season could see a return to the best of Mirallas.

However it still appears that Martinez doesn’t see him as a regular starter. Having played vs Watford his only other start has come against Barnsley where he ran himself into the ground and scored the crucial goal to get us back in the tie. His last involvement was coming on in the 90^th minute vs Swansea which seemed to be bizarre timing in a game we were trying to win as he left one of our matchwinners with only injury time to make a difference. It seemed like an unedifying way to treat one of Everton’s star players. It seems Mirallas was frustrated as well, taking it out on a poor, over eager challenge to see red and miss 3 games which he could ill afford.

Everton played with Deulofeu and Lennon on Tuesday night who both came out of the game with huge credit and may have consigned Mirallas to being Everton’s 3^rd choice winger. 3rd choice in a team that so far this season has only started with a maximum of one winger in league matches and none in recent matches.

So where does this leave Mirallas? Without starts in a season before a European championship. He is currently out of favour with Everton and with Belgium. You can only imagine this situation is untenable for a player who has dreams of playing in the Champions League, given that he can’t currently get a game in the Premier League. Mirallas may have been a fan favourite but one egotistical moment seems to have sent him in a downward spiral he is yet to recover from. Evertonians still love seeing his name on the teamsheet but Martinez doesn’t, Mirallas needs to work very hard to change that and ultimately put behind him a moment of selfishness that cold January night at Goodison which he is still paying the price for.