Sean Dyche tells truth about 'dynamic' Everton star who hasn't completed 90 minutes yet
Everton vs Crystal Palace: The attacker has been one of Everton’s best players.
Sean Dyche has opened up on Everton summer signing Iliman Ndiaye and why he has struggled to complete 90 minutes so far.
Easily one of the squad’s better performers this season, Ndiaye has adapted to the side fairly quickly but has certainly found his feet in recent weeks. A solo effort against Doncaster Rovers in the cup kicked off a run of form, continuing in the loss against Bournemouth (he was substituted with the team 2-0 up) and he netted the opener last weekend against Leicester City.
With Everton not possessing a tricky winger/forward for some time, Ndiaye is a breath of fresh air with his work-rate, delicate first touch and quick feet. Adopting a place on the left wing, he can switch with Dwight McNeil who has been given licence to drift inside and both players have complimented each other rather well. So far he’s made three starts in five games, averaging just 61 minutes compared to McNeil’s 90.
Dyche was asked during his press conference about Ndiaye’s fitness as it clearly isn’t ideal to have to remove one of your best players every week before the final whistle - and the Everton boss explained the building blocks are in place for him to play longer. “We’ve had to look at that, he puts a lot in as you’ve seen - he’s a dynamic player.
“That can get quite testing on the body when you are that type of player as you build up to true fitness. He’s a fit player, by the way. But that Premier League fitness is a different kind of thing so adapting to that but mainly making sure he can see out the 95/97 minutes. There’s a lot of detail in those minutes, we can’t afford to be running out of energy because that often brings mistakes.”
Ndiaye is certainly someone who dazzles on the eye more than the statistics but his interposition changes with McNeil have been clear. Both of their heatmaps show this and Ndiaye has been operating in that left-forward channel. However, he is deadly when he can break into the box and playing for longer, as Dyche mentioned, will certainly maximise his quality further - his quality will be key for their prospects this season.