A few Everton fans have been slamming Fabian Delph on social media for his performance against Manchester City on New Year’s Day.
Carlo Ancelotti fielded Delph in the starting line-up at the Etihad, for what was the midfielder’s second appearance against his former side since his £10million summer switch from the champions.
Delph had started Ancelotti’s first game in charge against Burnley on Boxing Day, but was unable to repeat the result away to Man City as Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues dealt the boss his first defeat since succeeding Marco Silva.
The midfield battle was very much where the game was won or lost at the Etihad on Wednesday evening, as the Citizens sought to control the flow of the match while we were often penned back defending the edge of Jordan Pickford’s area.
But Delph struggled to have a positive effect on proceedings with the England international’s passing often letting him down, while the 30-year-old’s positional awareness also played into the host’s favour at times.
Should Ancelotti drop Delph vs Liverpool in the FA Cup?
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Delph recorded 29 accurate passes from 37 attempts on New Year’s Day, though only one of his four long-range efforts found a teammate, per data collected by WhoScored and Sofa Score.
The two-time Premier League winner also only recorded one successful tackle from six attempts, lost half of his aerial duels, six of his ten ground duels, lost possession nine times and committed one foul.
Here are some of the messages shared as fans offered their thoughts on Delph’s performance…
Can someone teach Fabien Delph how to turn towards their goal instead of our own?
— Watched Toffee (@WatchedToffee) January 1, 2020
#Delph is so negative. Almost cost us #efc
— Simon Currie (@sicurrie) January 1, 2020
Delph hasn’t got it. Sigurdson is too slow. They need shipping out
— Don Carlo (@JohnFoyEFC) January 1, 2020
Fabian Delph tackles like hes checking the water temperature on holiday
— Nick Williams (@nickwillo4efc) January 1, 2020
Don’t rate Delph at all 🙄
— Nathan Askew (@NafferEFC) January 1, 2020
Richarlison having a mare but to be fair he isn’t alone. The midfield 3 of delph, Davies and Sigurdsson has been woeful
— ScottieDog77 (@ToffeePowered) January 1, 2020
In other Everton news, the club expect to conclude a £19.5million deal.