Alex Iwobi put in a nice shift at wing-back for Everton on Sunday (Twitter/Alex Iwobi)
It's not often you see Iwobi getting praised on Twitter; he played really well for Everton on Sunday. Alex Iwobi has been a headache for Carlo Ancelotti. Since the Italian veteran took over at the Goodison, the Nigerian has been inconsistent. Typical Iwobi, yea? From midfield to wings, no matter the role, Iwobi has failed to impress . On Sunday, November 22, 2020, however, the 23- year-old got a new role; for the first time in his career, Iwobi started a Premier League as a wing- back and impress. He was decent as Everton got a 3-2 away win at Fulham , putting in crosses from the right and progressing with the ball anything he had possession.
Playing from the wing-back role, gave Iwobi a lot of space to operate. He also played with a lot of freedom as he wasn’t saddled with playing a great final ball. It was with those spaces, he was taking out time to put in fine crosses. Dominic Calvert-Lewin got on one of those crosses to finish past the goalkeeper although the goal was correctly call-off for offside. His finest moment of the game came in the lead of the Everton’s goal of the game in the 29th minute. He picked up the ball from the right, dribbled past three players before picking out James Rodriguez who played in Lucas Digne .
#PL games: 9️ #PL goals: @CalvertLewin14 - still on fire. That run from @alexiwobi , though... pic.twitter.com/fnXFztZCWB — Everton (@Everton) November 22, 2020 Digne put in a cross which was met by Calvert- Lewin for his second goal of the game. It was a moment that showed Iwobi’s main quality and weakness. He got past three players with his quick feet and quickly played a safe pass to Rodriguez. While the former is what makes him so good on his bad day, it’s the latter that has made him an enigma. It’s also the reason why the wing-back might be the best position for him, at least for now —a role where he is not tasked with creating or goalscoring. Just doing basic stuff; crossing, running and dribbling.
“He has the qualities to play there because he's physically strong, he can go up and down and he has qualities one against one, ” Ancelotti said about Iwobi in the wing-back role after the game. “ He has qualities on crosses. He put in a lot of crosses in the first half. In the first half, he did really well and I'm happy for his performance .” It was good for Iwobi on Sunday; it’s rare for Everton to be in action and see Twitter full of praises for the Nigerian.
NG Alex Iwobi was boss today wasn’t he, playing at RWB for most of the game and he was excellent! Great going forward, massive part to play in the second goal and didn’t put a foot wrong defensively. Hopefully see many more of those performances!! Outstanding! @alexiwobi pic.twitter.com/SHsp83W0LF Alex Iwobi has been terrible recently for Everton but putting him at RWB kind of reminds me when Chelsea decided to put Victor Moses at RWB under Conte, completely different player he looked today. (Now I’ve said this, he’s definitely playing shit the next game)
— Jordan (@JordanWebber96) November 22, 2020 How long will this continue? No one can tell.