Tim Iroegbunam has set his sights on claiming the midfield spot left vacant following the departure of Idrissa Gana Gueye. He hopes to keep the starting spot even after the Senegalese midfielder returns from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 22-year-old is well aware that it will not be an easy task. Gana, although he has had major ups and downs this season, was Everton’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season last season and is one of the first names on manager David Moyes’ team list.
“I always look up to Idrissa, but I hope I can show what I can do so that when he comes back, I give the coach a reason not to put him back in straight away,” said Iroegbunam.
“That’s up to me. That’s my chance. I just have to take it.”
Gana and Ndiaye were not available for the home match against Arsenal last weekend. Everton suffered a 1-0 defeat to the league leaders, with Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty in the first half proving decisive.
Iroegbunam started and played the full 90, made the most tackles (seven), won eight of his eleven matches and had a passing accuracy of 68%. Reflecting on his own performance, he said: “I worked hard, put in good tackles and helped the team progress in some areas. Obviously I wouldn’t say it was a perfect performance.
“I’ve been in and out of the team. I missed the game.” [Nottingham Forest] match because I had five yellow cards. I feel like I did a pretty good job today.
“There is still a lot ahead of us, but I feel like this is definitely a performance that we can build on.”
Iroegbunam’s performance also caught the attention of Moyes, who, while praising the 22-year-old, also asked him to be more positive and move forward.
“I thought Tim played well. I think Tim played well for us at different times,” the Everton boss said after the match.
“We want him to look a bit more forward and be a bit more positive, but his ball retention and his work was really good and he did a good job against Declan. [Rice] this evening.”
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