Post
by claretspice » Tue May 09, 2023 1:23 pm
I think there is a broader point here. I do think that a lot of what McNeil is criticised for last season comes down to confidence and belief - as well as the ability of other players in the team to support the runs in question. McNeil's role at Burnley was different to Cornet's - Cornet very rarely played an active role in securing possession and instigating moves in our own half, whereas rightly or wrongly that increasingly became McNeil's role - and perhaps, his comfort zone. So that took him out of the equation a lot of the time to make those runs behind, because he was too deep. Equally, when he did make those runs, he often didn't get the ball and his frustration at that was obvious. But undoubtedly, as McNeil's end product dipped last season as the weight of expectation and the pressure of being our "star man" built on him, his lack of confidence and belief became a factor in all that. Now, at Everton, he's both got better players around him who can find him in higher areas of the pitch, he's got the shared burden because Everton have a number of other players who the crowd expect to be creative outlets and he's got the confidence because those two factors have liberated him, he's got a few goals and assists and like most young players confidence and belief are a massive part of whether he performs well or not.
The broader point is this. We have a new crop of exciting attacking talents now, and we've moved on from McNeil. They've had a season this season where mostly, everything has gone well for them, and we've dominated games and if they are wasteful with a chance or a crossing opportunity, another one has been along soon. That won't always be the case next season and they will have spells where they lose confidence or belief. It might be our current coaching team is better at building them up in those moments, and perhaps the way we play will help, but more likely all of Zaroury, Benson and if he's here Tella, and Twine and the rest, will have spells where they are frustrated and unproductive. They'll need the support and forbearance of the crowd to get back on the horse and build back up again. Ultimately the crowd beginning to over-expect of McNeil became counter-productive and adversely affected his performances last season and hopefully that doesn't repeat with our current crop. I've said before that in the second half of the season I've discerned a certain over-expectation on Zaroury; having good, quietly influential performances isn't enough and we want him to be repeating the goal against Sunderland or the assist against Rovers twice a game. It doesn't always happen like that and we've got to be patient and appreciate all the basic stuff they might be doing well even if the spectacular isn't coming off.