Andre Gomes has opened up on his injury struggles at Everton amid a horrific ankle injury, the shutdown of English football and pre-season in his latest comments to the Everton match notes [via Toffee Web] ahead of this evening’s clash against Leeds
Gomes suffered a fracture dislocation of his ankle after a rash challenge by Heung-min Son in a Premier League clash with Tottenham in November 2019, but defied the odds to complete a rapid return to action just 112 days later.
However, his return to fragile fitness was cut short following the suspension of the 2019/20 campaign in March, before suffering in a repeated cycle of minor setbacks upon football’s return in the summer.
In a further blow to Gomes’ chances of a successful Everton career, two similar ball-wining midfielders in Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan were signed over the summer transfer window.
The competition from the duo has subsequently made Gomes more of a rotational option, with the midfielder making just five starts so far this season. He admitted to Toffee Web:
The truth is, I am still trying to find my best feeling, to get fit, to get ready to be 100 per cent for all the game. In the past months, with the pandemic, it was hard for me physically. A lot of details can change, my body shape or how fit I feel.
When we came back after the first lockdown, I had a really small injury in one place, then something else in another place, because I was trying to compensate coming from the big injury.
I was trying to get fit and regain power. We had a small pre-season before nine games in two months. Then we had a short break and another small pre-season, when I needed minutes.
It would have been perfect for me to have all that time to recover and prepare in a normal way. Now, I am working to get as fit as I can and trying to feel better, trying to be confident when we are playing. But, more than anything else, I am trying to improve physically.
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When Gomes was loaned in (and the deal subsequently made permanent) from Barcelona in 2018, he was likely seen as an ideal midfield solution – but if anything, fitting him in is increasingly problematic.
Gomes is evidently suffering a little from harrowing experience and self-confidence. He has much more to give to Everton, and may warrant more of a look-in from Ancelotti.
