Everton midfielder Amadou Onana had a game to forget against Arsenal yesterday at Goodison Park.
Covering the match for TalkSPORT, Trevor Steven was commentating on a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mikel Arteta’s side.
Everton fans are becoming very familiar with the 1-0 scoreline at Goodison Park this season.
After a decent performance against Fulham, they were hit by a Bobby De Cordova-Reid sucker punch before Sasa Kalajdzic did exactly the same for Wolves.
Arsenal then inflicted their third home defeat on the bounce thanks to a wonderful Leandro Trossard goal.
The visitors dominated possession but didn’t create a huge number of clear-cut chances.
However, at the other end, Everton failed to test Arsenal’s back line especially with new signing David Raya making his debut.
Everton lost control of the match in midfield, with Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye failing to compete with Arsenal’s central players.
Declan Rice did a top job protecting his back four while no one could get near Martin Odegaard.
The £33m midfielder for Everton looked off the pace and gave the ball away way too often.
He’s got huge potential and was handed the captain’s armband for Belgium during the international break.
However, fans at Goodison Park haven’t seen the best from their number eight for some time.
Onana struggles for Everton against Arsenal
Commentator Kevin Hatchard commented on the 22-year-old and said: “He’s been a big hit since arriving from Lille.”
Trevor Steven disagreed and said: “Has he been a big hit though I do question that?
“He started really well, didn’t he? But I don’t think he’s reached those kinds of performances that he had maybe in his first five or six games for Everton.
Hatchard replied: “The numbers will tell you only [James] Tarkowski won more challenges, so I think he’s done a lot of work in that regard.
“But I think maybe the kind of lung-busting runs we were seeing in the first few games, I think they’ve become less and less of a factor.
“But in terms of his work without the ball, I think he has caught the eye.”
Steven concluded: “You’re right, it’s with the ball that he’s really struggled.”
The 22-year-old is reportedly worth as much as Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk right now but isn’t playing like that at the moment.
Onana was linked with a move to yesterday’s opponents Arsenal but ended up staying at Everton.
The way he played yesterday and has for much of this season, it’s hard to see how he would have played many minutes had he made the switch.