Allardyce praises Vlasic

Sam Allardyce believes the performance of Nikola Vlasic in Everton’s 2-0 defeat against Man United was a positive.

Allardyce: “Nikola Vlasic was a positive. If we can get him in the top third of the pitch with the ball at his feet, he can create a lot of tricks and movement and some good opportunities.

“But we have to get him up there, where he likes to be, and get him possession as often we can. I was pleased with him.

“I was pleased with our performance in the first half. We tried to take the game to Manchester United whenever we could but the disappointing thing was the start of the second half and allowing that first goal to go in.

“It was extremely risky [making seven changes] against Manchester United, that is for sure. But I had to do it.

“The lads who have been winning and drawing matches, you try to let them go as far as they can. But it was clear by the end of the Bournemouth game that a lot of those lads were fatigued and would not really recover sufficiently in 48 hours to get the energy and performance we needed against Manchester United.

“That is why we made the changes. In the main, apart from 15 or 20 minutes in the second half up to them scoring, we were always in the game.

“From that point of view, I was pleased with the lads’ application for most of the game but very disappointed in those two small moments United took full advantage of.”