Sunday’s 1-0 victory over West Ham United was their first time starting together but already Everton’s new midfield trio of Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Alex Iwobi look like a balanced combination with the hope that the Blues suffering from a soft centre can become a thing of the past.
As one of the Premier League’s greatest midfielders himself during his own playing days – and certainly the most-prolific – Everton manager Frank Lampard will have been frustrated with his team’s struggles in the engine room during his first few months at Goodison Park.
For a long time, Lampard found it difficult to even have more than a couple of options available in the position at any given point and such restrictions often necessitated the use of the 3-4-3 formation that he used both in his first few matches in charge and then the opening fixtures of this season. The arrivals of £33.5million man Onana – the Blues’ biggest signing of the summer – and then return of Gueye on transfer deadline day, have totally changed that dynamic though.
