Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher last night criticised Blues midfielder James McCarthy’s lack of productivity in the final third.
Speaking on Sky’s Monday Night Football programme, the former Liverpool stalwart said: “I really like McCarthy, he’s a fantastic player, but that was his first goal of the season and that’s not good enough. He needs to take it to a new level.”
The Irish international, who netted in Sunday’s emphatic 3-0 victory over Newcastle at Goodison Park, has missed large swathes of this current season with a hamstring complaint, starting just 19 games in an injury-hit campaign.
Sunday’s goal brought his tally to 2 goals and 3 assists in 53 appearances for the Toffees, however, some will point to his regular position as a defensive shield in front of the back four as a contributing factor to such a poor return.
The highly-rated midfielder, who has been linked with Arsenal and Manchester United in recent weeks, is known for his all-action defensive displays, yet against Newcastle, McCarthy was given more license to roam in Martinez’s new 4-4-2 formation, as fellow countryman, Darron Gibson, was tasked with dictating play from a deep, holding role.
It was perhaps this new-found freedom that allowed McCarthy to burst forward with regularity, pick up the ball in dangerous areas, and drive at the opposition goal- as he did for his side’s first goal of the match- and given the midfielder’s fantastic ability to cover vast amounts of space, with lung-busting forward runs, such a tactic could well benefit both the Goodison side and the 24-year-old star in the coming months.
