'Committed to the role' - Ex-Chelsea captain comments on Iwobi's new position centre of pitch

Everton boss Frank Lampard, for the second consecutive Premier League game, has deployed Alex Iwobi in the centre of the pitch in the ongoing clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park, with the Nigeria international partnering Abdoulaye Doucoure in midfield in a 3-4-3 formation.

Against Chelsea last weekend, the performance of Iwobi in a pivot role alongside Doucoure left a lot of Everton fans including manager Frank Lampard purring.

It is worth noting that Nigeria manager Jose Peseiro used the Hale End Academy graduate in the same deep-lying playmaker role during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this summer.

Former Chelsea captain Andy Townsend has praised Iwobi for doing a good job in his new position but stressed that the Super Eagles star may struggle when he is up against genuine holding midfielders.

Speaking during commentary on the Premier League world feed, Townsend said : "Just coming back to Alex Iwobi. Sometimes when you ask a player to play out of position for a game or two, you can enjoy the experience and it can be something that you really relish then all of a sudden you can find it tough going when you are up up against real proper operators in that part of the field.

"We'll see how Iwobi  fares but he's certainly thrown himself at that, committed to the role that he has been asked to fulfill."

Everton trailed Aston Villa 1-0  after thirty minutes and it was Danny Ings who netted the Lions first home goal of the 2022-2023 campaign when he unleashed a low shot into the bottom corner.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : evertonfc.com

Copyright ANS

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com