2022/23 Dwight McNeil

[Zatara]

As expected when he signed, an emerging partnership down the right with Patterson for the long term.

 

[UndercoverClaret]

Hi Toffees - Burnley fan here…

Couldn’t quite believe the fee we got for McNeil off you guys tbh, a limited footballer in my view;

McNeil polarised Burnley fans a bit because when he broke on to the scene (due to injuries in first teamers) he just played his natural game and was a bit of an unknown quantity… just ran with the ball down the left and whipped in crosses that our two lumps (Wood/Barnes) used to get on the end of - so lots of fans still held him in this esteem rather than what he showed towards the end of his Burnley career

Seemed as he played more and became more coached, the worse he got… not so sure he has the mentality to be a top player - seems overly reactive than proactive.

We had fans clamour to play him central - maybe the furthers forward of a midfield three or as a 10 but I don’t think he can with his one footedness (can’t even make basic passes/control the ball with the right) and tendency to switch off at key times.

Think if you’re to get any success out of him would be when DCL is fit and have him out wide and whipping balls in as often as possible…

The good news for you guys is every time we played Liverpool he tore TAA a new one

All the best

 

[Swagger]

Lacks quality and class offensively but his workrate was phenomenal and he has an excellent understanding of knowing not to dive in brainlessly and how to defend properly. He will be a useful player against the top 6-8 teams when we need his intensity out of possession. Good squad player.

 

[Maltese_Falcon]

With pacy players and a striker coming in playing alongside him he will become efficient.

 

[MikeH72]

Simply can’t play as a winger. Anyone think he might do a job as a centre mid instead?

Slow, weak and one footed. Basically no.

 

[Nymzee]

Slow, weak and one footed. Basically no.

Not sure why people keep criticising him for this. Most lefties are extremely one-footed. Rodriguez, Robben, Bernardo Silva, heck I remember watching Barrow vs Boro years back in the cup and I don't think Downing and Adam Johnson even touched the ball with their right foot.

 

[MikeH72]

Not sure why people keep criticising him for this. Most lefties are extremely one-footed. Rodriguez, Robben, Bernardo Silva, heck I remember watching Barrow vs Boro years back in the cup and I don't think Downing and Adam Johnson even touched the ball with their right foot.

You can get away with being one footed if you’re genuinely world class. Don’t think I saw Steven Gerrard kick a ball with his left foot in his entire career.

 

[atypicalusername]

Rewatching the goal he pulls the centre back away with a selfless run creating a lot of space.

 

[RFUS]

Actually his best game for us. Good ball retention but mainly contributed defensively; really helped Patterson in his first game for us in a back four.

Hopefully we will see more attacking quality from him when we have an actual striker for him to pass to.

 

[Death]

Blue and white sh... Dwight

Ello
Ello

 

[Paul Rideout]

You can get away with being one footed if you’re genuinely world class. Don’t think I saw Steven Gerrard kick a ball with his left foot in his entire career.

Can you tell me of any Left footers who are good enough with their right to be considered two footed at any level of football?

 

[Magnifico1988]

With how good he was defensively last night, and how he is good attacking wise. I wouldn’t mind trying him at left wing back, with patterson right wing back. He would be a lot more positive with the ball down that left hand side than myko, plus he’s got a great cross on him. Food for thought maybe for Frank.

 

[Billy Dean]

I like to look at whoscored.com after watching the game. You have to take it with a grain of salt. Usually the numbers will track what I just watched. Sometimes they're off, which could be because the model is dumb, because the underlying numbers don't reflect the reality of what happened, or in a few cases because the numbers show something which may have escaped notice.

I was surprised by this:

View attachment 181214

The Everton numbers track with the eye test, except Gray is much lower that I would have thought and there's no way I would have called McNeil MOTM.

But the numbers are interesting. McNeil had 5 dribbles, second only to Gordon; a team high 10 attempted tackles; 3 interceptions, tied for team lead with Myko; 4 blocks (Patterson had 8, no one else more than 3). So he put in a Gana-like shift. He took care of the ball. Other than the ball to Iwobi that led to Iwobi feeding Gordon for his goal, he didn't do much offensively, but without doing much that would make the highlights he was excellent in defensive actions from the forward slot. That was touted as one of his strengths when we got him.

I was impressed that we took it right to Leeds from the start with the aggressive press and beat them at their own game in the first half. Our forwards were the big contributors and it looks like McNeil especially. I think it bodes well for when we have actual striker(s) for him to target.

Our numbers look about right to me. I agree with the Gray number, and if anyone is to make way for Maupay on Sat then I would drop Gray. I thought Myko would be much lower than 6.5 though. Thought he was poor yesterday.

 

[MikeH72]

Can you tell me of any Left footers who are good enough with their right to be considered two footed at any level of football?

Saka is decent with his right foot. Digne isn’t bad. Andros Townsend. Salah. Mahrez. I can go on if you really want me to. It’s not about being two footed though, it’s about to being able to occasionally make a pass or control a ball with your weaker foot.

 

[zook]

Can you tell me of any Left footers who are good enough with their right to be considered two footed at any level of football?

Harrison at Leeds can go off both feet really well, that Greenwood rat for Utd was very good off both feet.

Always find it odd that it's usually only left footed players that get stick for being one-footed.