Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson has ripped into Morgan Schneiderlin, claiming the midfielder offers Everton nothing going forwards.
Schneiderlin has started eight of his ten Premier League appearances this season as he dips in and out of the side, but was hauled off after 56 minutes on Saturday to make way for Alex Iwobi, as Marco Silva made immediate changes following Todd Cantwell opening the scoring for Norwich City.
Silva may not have put so much faith in the 30-year-old Frenchman had it not been for injuries frequently depriving the Portuguese of some of his midfield options.
Our £25million summer signing Jean-Philippe Gbamin was ruled out until January after having surgery on a thigh injury, while Andre Gomes is now set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after suffering a fractured dislocation to his right ankle.
Their absences, and those of £10m summer signing Fabian Delph, have ensured a spot has often remained open for Schneiderlin, and Robinson feels the £100,000-per-week anchor is proving to be a serious problem to our results.
“He [Silva] likes him in that holding midfield role,” the retired 41-cap England star told Football Insider. “He’s got Tom Davies next to him, but Schneiderlin is a little bit too much backwards and sidewards at the moment with his passes.
“You can tell he is a player out of form and he doesn’t give them anything going forward, and his performances haven’t been great.
“They’ve been leaking far too many goals, and that starts in midfield with Schneiderlin and Davies, and a lot of the goals come through the midfield with Schneiderlin.”
Should we try a three-man midfield at Leicester?
Yes, we must axe Schneiderlin
No, we don't have the players
Of the players Silva has deployed in a central or defensive midfield position in the Premier League this season, Schneiderlin has featured the most with eight outings in the core of the team to Gomes’ seven and Delph’s six.
Schneiderlin has only averaged the third-most successful tackles per 90 minutes, though, with the Frenchman penning 1.9 from 3.5 attempts to Gbamin’s 3 from 4 and Delph’s 2.8 from 3, per WhoScored data.
The former Manchester United holding midfielder also ranks behind Davies for interceptions with 1.6 to the England U21 ace’s 2, and is fourth for passes blocked with 0.6 to Gomes’ 1.1 and Gbamin and Delph at 1.
Across his last five top-flight appearances, Schneiderlin has played 122 forward passes from his total 178, having recorded 28 of 34 against Sheffield United, 20 of 33 against Manchester City, 31 of 50 against Burnley, 26 of 35 against Southampton and 17 of 26 against Norwich.