Has Alex Iwobi found his long-term position?
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On Sunday afternoon Everton recorded a 3-2 win at struggling Fulham. The result was a close one in the end after Fulham put in an admirable second-half display.
However, in truth, the Toffees were superb in the first half and probably should have been further ahead than 3-1 at the break.
A key to Everton’s fantastic first-half display was the performance of former Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi. He played a part in two of the goals and generally looked cool, composed and exciting.
One of the biggest surprises of the game was that the Nigerian international played the game at right wing-back. The move by Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti was an interesting one.
With first-choice right-back Seamus Coleman sidelined through injury and backup Jonjo Kenny struggling badly in his appearances this season, the experienced Everton head coach decided to experiment.
Using the system also negated the lack of defensive cover that Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez offers his team. The 29-year-old is in the team for his creative abilities, but playing on the right-wing his presence means that Everton have a major weak spot for opposition teams to exploit. Teams have noticed that weakness in recent games and took advantage.
Using Iwobi as a wing-back and three centre-backs added slightly more security, although the performance of the centre-backs nearly undid the great work of the first half.
Iwobi offered a big attacking threat and did his defensive work when he had to. The second half he had to be more defensive with Everton pinned back in their own half.
He didn’t let his team down though and the experiment was certainly a success for Iwobi. The move was reminiscent of Iwobi’s compatriot Victor Moses being converted from a struggling winger to a very successful wing-back by Ancelotti’s compatriot Antonio Conte.
It may just be one game, but if Ancelotti sticks with the system the formerly struggling Iwobi may just have found a position in which he thrives.
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