Marouane Fellaini and Kevin Davies in action at the Reebok Stadium
MAROUANE FELLAINI chose a bad time to have a bad day last Saturday, with much of the fans’ ire focused, quite rightly, on the Belgian.
Fellaini’s actions during his final minutes on the pitch were regrettable, but typically Everton dealt with the fall-out sensibly and quietly. It will be a test of his character to see how he comes back this afternoon.
There is no reason why he shouldn’t play and many reasons why he should, the most important being that he is one of Everton’s best players.
The popular press took advantage of his early departure to rehash the story that has been peddled many times this year about the possibility of him leaving for £23m. In my opinion if Everton can get £23m for him in the current climate, that will be good business.
I have never been totally convinced that he merits the acclaim and status that has been bestowed upon him.
There have been too many games where he has been “quiet” and his reputation has been built on infrequent outstanding performances.
Of the seven games he has missed this season, we have only lost one – a pulsating match we could easily have won against Chelsea – and I am not sure you would put him in the same indispensable bracket to the team as, say, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata.
If you want to look at players who are statistically important to their team, Darron Gibson, is more probably important to Everton.
If Marouane Fellaini needs to be sacrificed to rebuild at Goodison, so be it.
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