BBC pundit Garth Crooks has waxed lyrical about and named Everton star Bernard in his latest Premier League Team of the Week, and said that he is the only Toffees player that doesn’t lack quality at the same time.
What did he say?
Well, the Brazilian returned to the starting XI in the 1-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion at Goodison Park on Saturday having been a substitute against Liverpool in the FA Cup previously, and played a key role in the victory with an impressive display against the Seagulls.
The Brazilian made four key passes – more than anyone else on the pitch – as per WhoScored, while he also successfully completed three dribbles against Graham Potter’s men.
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Crooks was certainly impressed with what he saw, also comparing the 27-year-old to a former Everton legend.
He said: “This lad was only on the pitch for 72 minutes but the impact he made on Everton against a resilient Brighton side was clear.
“Bernard buzzed around Goodison Park like the legendary Colin Harvey used to – and he had to do it without players of the calibre of Alan Ball or Howard Kendall supporting him.
“That’s the problem for new manager Carlo Ancelotti – Everton lack quality in midfield, Bernard apart.”
Fair point?
Not many of the Goodison Park faithful would argue against Bernard being one of the best technical players in this Everton squad right now, and he really showed it as the Toffees got back to winning ways following disappointing back-to-back results against Manchester City and their arch-rivals.
Aside from perhaps Alex Iwobi and the currently out of form Gylfi Sigurdsson – the latter is yet to really make his mark because of injury with two goals in 20 games, and the latter has two goals and one assist in 24 appearances in all competitions in 2019/20 – the Merseyside club don’t really have that talented player capable of playing out wide or in the centre behind the strikers.
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Bernard does have that ability though, and if he keeps performing like he did against Brighton then he will continue to be a starting XI regular under Ancelotti moving forward.
In other Everton news, the Toffees may have suffered a huge blow in their bid to sign a £35m-rated star Carlo Ancelotti reportedly wants…