According to journalist Paul Brown, Everton’s central midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure is not performing at his highest level, as relays the FTT.
However, under new manager Sean Dyche, Doucoure has made a comeback and played the full 90 minutes in Everton’s last three Premier League games. Before that, he had only started twice in the league and played 12 times across all competitions this season.
Despite this, Dyche has seen potential in Doucoure and brought him back into the team, despite transfer rumors linking him with Fulham in January. Brown mentioned that Doucoure missed a great opportunity to score in Everton’s 1-0 win against Leeds United in the Premier League, suggesting that he is still not at his best.
“He is still way, way below his best in my opinion. There was a point in their last game when he was clean through on goal and couldn’t even get a shot away before that chance was snuffed out.
“If you look at replays of that carefully, his foot did slip as he plants it. Maybe that was just misfortune, but I can’t help thinking that the Doucoure of two seasons ago would have buried that immediately.”
For Doucoure to perform at his highest level at Goodison Park, he requires a series of games, and Dyche appears to have complete confidence in him to thrive in the midfield until the season concludes.