Oumar Niasse was restricted to a substitute’s role at Brighton, but the Everton starters did little to convince in his absence.
Everton’s struggles this season continued with a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, with Wayne Rooney’s late penalty scraping a point for the visitors.
Ronald Koeman spent heavily in the summer, but he has yet to work out what his best system is and the attack looks especially blunt.
With an ageing Rooney often starting in front of a collection of one-paced creative midfielders, Everton desperately need something different.
And so it is no surprise that Oumar Niasse made such an impact when he, a natural centre forward with some favourable athletic attributes, was finally given his chance against Bournemouth last month.
The striker scored twice to earn all three points for the Toffees, but he was given just a single start – in the defeat to Burnley – before dropping out of the team again on Sunday.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has also impressed in a forward role this term but has since had to revert to playing out wide as Koeman continues to keep faith with Rooney.
While the former England captain may be the side’s top scorer, the system simply is not working and his manager is failing to acknowledge that.
As Everton search for the answers, Niasse can surely expect another opportunity – his case may have been strengthened at Brighton despite his omission from the starting line-up.
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