Jordan Pickford - 8
Jordan has been exceptional, there are no two ways about it.
Since joining the club, Pickford has gone from strength to strength and proved beyond doubt that meeting his expensive price tag was certainly worth the risk.
For the first time in what feels like an age, I don’t feel like every opposition attack will find its way into the net, purely due to Pickford. He has saved the club on a number of occasions, displaying his superb shot-stopping ability in vital circumstances, and Everton’s poor performances cannot be attributed to the young Englishman whatsoever.
Also, his distribution is fantastic, too.
Davy Klaassen - 4
Davy Klaassen was considered by many as a major coup when Everton confirmed his signing for £23.6million. The former Ajax captain had been a star player for the Dutch giants for many years, leading his team to the Europa League final last season.
This season though, Klaassen has left a lot to be desired.
Much like Vincent Janssen who joined Tottenham last summer having excelled in the Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar, Klaassen needs time to adjust to the rigours and pace of the Premier League.
As such, his game time has, in recent weeks, been restricted by Ronald Koeman. Klaassen will take time to adjust, and hopefully he can do it relatively quickly, because currently there isn’t much to write home about.
Michael Keane - 6
It has been a mixed bag for Keane.
He has certainly shown promise, and has the potential to become a vital component for the Toffees, but at the moment he is probably the club’s best centre-half by default.
On the occasions that he has played well, he has demonstrated good distribution from the back, solid defensive positional play and has put his body on the line to break up attacking movements.
Unfortunately, he has equally had poor games in which these positive elements have been non-existent.
Sandro Ramírez - 4
Sandro has really struggled to make an impact as of now.
Much like Davy Klaassen, Sandro needs patience and persistence before his acquisition can be fairly judged. Coming from a significantly weaker (physically) league, Sandro will take time to find his footing.
Other than that, he looks like a sharp player with a quick turn of pace. Unfortunately, that is all we have right now, as he is bereft of confidence and that has rubbed off on his end product, which has been severely lacking.
Wayne Rooney - 5
Ah, Wayne. The prodigal son returns home. Everton’s most famous son of this generation returns to his old stomping ground to lead his boyhood club into a new era of success and silverware. How has he done so far?
Meh.
To be fair to him, Rooney is currently Everton’s top goalscorer with four (three in the PL, one in the Europa League), but his all-round performances have been severely lacking.
It very much feels as though both Koeman and Rooney himself aren’t sure exactly where the former England captain fits into Everton’s team, and that has caused problems.
As a striker, Rooney is left isolated without a target-man to partner him; as a midfielder, he gets swarmed and overloaded and as a number 10 he is far too inconsistent.
Don’t even mention him playing out wide.
Cuco Martina - 2
Martina is the only signing that the club made this summer that I was actively against prior to him signing on the dotted line, and it seems that I was fairly accurate.
In my opinion, Cuco isn’t fit to lace Jonjoe Kenny’s boots – let alone take his place in a starting line-up. The player himself has expressed his surprise at the amount of first-team Premier League action he has received, and if that doesn’t say it all then I don’t know what does.
His crossing is dreadful, his movement on the ball is worrisome, he cannot defend and Kenny should feel extremely disheartened that he cannot get in ahead of him after turning in some very impressive performances at last summers’ Under-20 World Cup and in the rare opportunities he has been awarded this season.
Gylfi Sigurdsson - 5
Sigurdsson is lucky to get a five in my eyes, but edges it with his European goal, plus his set-piece delivery.
If I was to judge this on the difference between performance and expectation, Sigurdsson would be the worst signing by quite some distance. For £45million, Sigurdsson has been a huge disappointment.
Other than the occasional pin-point accurate set-piece delivery, something that any club would expect from a player like Gylfi at the very least, the Icelandic playmaker has offered nothing. He all too often disappears in games, having little to no effect on the performance or result.
Big price tags come with big pressure, and that pressure has not been dealt with at all.
Nikola Vlašić - 7
Niko has been, surprisingly, a bright light amongst the darkness of this season.
Signed from Hajduk Split on deadline day, Vlašić has been fast-tracked into Everton’s starting line-up due to their struggling situation and has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Capable of playing both though the middle and on the flanks, the Croatian adds a different dimension to Everton’s attack. He works hard for the team and brings a lot of energy to an otherwise lethargic forward unit. He is sharp, has a quick turn of pace and is clever in the pass.
A real gem for Everton, who’ll hopefully kick on and go from strength to strength.
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