Since Carlo Ancelotti took charge of Everton, he has used a midfield compromised of Fabian Delph, Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson in all of his Premier League fixtures. But at the weekend in the FA Cup, he rotated the players his engine room for the first time. Morgan Schneiderlin was brought into the starting eleven from the wilderness under his new Italian manager, but the Frenchman failed to impress against a much-changed Liverpool side.
Despite coming up against 18-year-old Curtis Jones and 22-year-old Pedro Chirivella, the considerably more experienced Schneiderlin was unable to have a significant impact on proceedings. While his passing was a tidy 80.4 per cent and the defensive midfielder made a number of contributions at the back, including making four tackles, his play was incredibly safe. Ancellotti would have wanted the midfielder to transition the game forwards more often, but the only attacking contribution Schneiderlin provided was sending two shots off target.
It is telling of his time at the club that in four seasons since joining the Toffees Schneiderlin, valued at £12m (Transfermarkt), has only provided a single Premier League assist and his solo goal for the club came over three years ago. While he is capable of providing a defensive contribution, without showing any tangible attacking contribution his place in the starting eleven will always come under scrutiny.
When considering Schneiderlin has nearly nine Premier League campaigns under his belt Ancelotti is likely to have been shocked to see the midfielder overrun by a pair of Liverpool youth prospects. The game against Liverpool might be the best chance the midfielder will get to prove to his manager that the Frenchman deserves a fresh start, but after his performance and the teams result it is difficult to see any way back from Schneiderlin.
It is only going to get harder with summer signing Jean-Philippe Gbamin set to return this month, who plays in the same defensive midfield role. At the rate he has been going for the last two campaigns, making a paltry ten Premier League starts last season, Schneiderlin is heading towards the Goodison Park exit door on the basis of his performances unless something changes drastically.
