- Gueye grades highest of Everton’s four after a composed display against France.
- Ndiaye’s grade is withheld after just an eight-minute cameo off the bench.
- Pickford and Patterson both earn credit despite tough spells in their games.
One or two games in for the Everton World Cup contingent, it’s a good moment to take stock of how Jordan Pickford, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye and Nathan Patterson have performed beyond the scorelines.
One of those four, however, only fulfilled a minor role.
Jordan Pickford — 7/10
England’s 4-2 win over Croatia was never really about their goalkeeper, and that’s a compliment.
Pickford was beaten twice before halftime by two well-taken Croatia finishes, and some may point to the first-half chaos that England will need to address as the tournament progresses.
But three saves kept the game from getting away from England in some nervy moments, and there was nothing in his positioning or decision-making to suggest concern. A clean sheet on Tuesday against Ghana would lift this towards an 8 or 9.
Idrissa Gana Gueye — 8/10
The pick of Everton’s four so far. At 36, in what is likely his final World Cup, Gueye anchored Senegal’s midfield for a full hour against one of the tournament favourites, picking up no cards while doing the disciplined, unglamorous work that kept France at arm’s length far longer than the 3-1 scoreline suggests.
This was exactly the kind of experienced, reliable performance Senegal will have wanted from their elder statesman, and exactly the kind of shift David Moyes recognises.
Iliman Ndiaye — no grade (played 8 minutes)
Worth a word rather than a number. Ndiaye was an 82nd-minute substitute against France, introduced far too late to meaningfully influence a game Senegal had already lost control of.
Simply not enough to mark fairly on eight minutes plus stoppage time. He’ll have a far better opportunity to make his case for a starting role against Norway, and that will be a more useful marker to judge him on.
Nathan Patterson — 5/10
Left out of the starting XI for the opening win over Haiti, making only a late cameo, Patterson was thrown in for his World Cup debut against Morocco and found himself on the back foot from inside two minutes.
Scotland were second best for long spells, with Morocco enjoying 60% of the possession, and Patterson’s afternoon was largely about damage limitation rather than bombing forward. Nothing disastrous, but nothing to elevate him above Aaron Hickey – who was right-back for the Haiti game – or shift the narrative from his difficult season at Everton. An even tougher test awaits against Brazil.
Read Everton will issue an updated report card once England, Senegal and Scotland have all completed their second group games this week.
