Everton may have lost Saturday’s match, but now the dust has settled, it’s worth noting just how impressive they actually were for 86 minutes of the game.
They completely dominated, creating chance after chance and deservedly soaring into a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, their opponents were nowhere to be seen.
And, it could have been much more too, with a few corners coming close and Seamus Coleman forging a golden opportunity for himself which was saved.
It’s arguably this stellar showing which makes the end result, a 3-2 defeat, much harder to take.
However, the Republic of Ireland international has now emerged to reaffirm the belief that they are heading in the right direction.
Seamus Coleman praises Everton teammate vs Bournemouth
Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, it seems Coleman was the unlucky player chosen to come out and give the fans the same old rallying cry that they have become used to after a crushing defeat.
Whether it be a hefty loss or an almighty collapse, a day or two later, like clockwork, someone is summoned to apologise and promise the club will do better.
An unforgiving task, the club captain is unsurprisingly the man often selected, and on this occasion, he took a different route.
After all, Everton did play well, and he attested that there was still cause for positivity despite the manner of their defeat.
He highlighted one of his teammates in particular for special praise: ‘We were very impressive for long parts of the game, and the new players were very good. But ultimately it’s from minute one to minute 95, and we let ourselves down.
We have to look at how well some of the lads played. Iliman [Ndiaye] was very good, but this is part and parcel of a Premier League season, ups and downs – and this is definitely a down.’
Whilst Coleman looked for the positives in his teammates, Danny Murphy slammed Dwight McNeil for a lack of effort vs Bournemouth.
Iliman Ndiaye stole the show vs Bournemouth
Coleman is right to highlight Iliman Ndiaye for praise after his performance on Saturday, because he was absolutely mesmerising.
There was plenty of excitement when the Senegal international joined Everton after the fine stint he had enjoyed with Sheffield United, and many discounted his most recent struggles at Marseille.
Instead, his acquisition garnered only positivity, which was slowly being justified in flashes against AS Roma in pre-season and then Doncaster Rovers in the cup.
Well, now the Premier League has been introduced to his talents, and there should be no going back for Sean Dyche.
Ndiaye stole the show with his trickery, creativity and impetus to drive the team forward.
It’s no surprise that, upon his substitution and thus the removal of their key attacking outlet, the collapse began.
A hard-working trickster to get Goodison Park off its feet, he is one of few to leave Saturday’s match glowing with credit from the fanbase.
