Idrissa Gueye must be 1 of the most overrated players i have seen play for Everton. Even now, I'm constantly hearing or reading how amazing he was, and to a man, they always back it up with his stats, and often, it includes his stats for a Villa team that was relegated as one of the worst teams in the PŁ history.
Everyone knows he ran a lot, and he made lots of interceptions and covered loads of ground, etc, all things Opta told us were above average.
Well James Rodriguez completed a game against West Brom with zero Sprints. ZERO. If this stat, on its own, does not instantly end this obsession with these type of numbers, there is nothing down for us.
I watched Gueye from my seat in the Top Balcony for the 3 years he was here, and we were awful for nearly the entire time. He didn't improve the side in any meaningful way, and in fact, the teams 2 best spells of his time here, where 1) when he was in Africa in the 2nd half of Koemans 1st season, and 2) the 2nd half of Silvas 1st season, when he was playing for his dream move to Paris. And fair play to him for being professional and getting on with the job. I expected no less from him, he always gave his all.
But he was not some game changing player that would walk into any side. He was part of the problem midfield that saw us fail to complete and essentially roll over to any side that pressed us. And yes, it was also the other players fault as well. But it was also his. He was there, he was part of the unit, he doesn't get a pass while all 10 (maybe more, i lose count) of his other midfield partners take the slack.
He had a lot of qualities, most of which can scarcely be noticed by simply watching a game. But he also had many flaws, most of which can.
He regularly lost possession, in dangerous places as well i might add. He often kept hold of the ball too long. His passing, contrary to some on here, was average at best. He would occasionally knock a lovely 30 yard cross field pass, only to make a meal of a simple 5 yard one under no pressure. His positioning and discipline were non existent, and he often left humongous gaps in behind which severely exposed a fragile defense. He was often bypassed almost laughably. Have a look at the number of long range goals we conceded while he was in the side, and play a game of "Where's Gana" on the screen as the player is about to shoot. This idea that he was some defensive powerhouse who shielded out back 4 is an absolute myth brought by people who care more for how many places he cropped up in to lunge into another challenge. I won't even mention his shooting.
That he has the reputation in the 1st place is testament to the power of social media opinion and the prevailance of meaningless stats (I say meaningless, as some can obviously be useful).
The fact he still has it, when you realise the difference that Allan and James have made in less than a month of actually signing, with no preseason or prep. Christ, even Gareth Barry and James McCarthy had a bigger positive impact on a team than he did, but neither of them are talked about in the same obsessive fashion.
Gueye was an average, workhorse, midfielder, whose work rate and commitment were admirable, and should be the very least u expect from a midfield player.
But he was not world class, in any sense of the word. Nor was he the transformative midfield dynamo he has been retroactively made out to be.
1 final point. I am arguably 1 of Sigurdssons biggest critics, have been since we signed him. And I regularly said that any midfield with him and Gueye in it, would never succeed. Mostly because 1 had no interest in moving, and the other had no interest in staying still.
Well, even I must admit, that this season, with the players who are there, there has been an improvement in even Gylfi the Ghosts performances.
That is what really good players do. They make the players around them look better.
Idrissa Gueye never did that. Not once.