Blog a Day 37 of 365 – Fellaini out for 6 months
We had some absolutely devastating news for Everton fans yesterday with the reports that Marouane Fellaini will be out for around 6 months as a result of the ankle injury he received during the Merseyside Derby. It really didn’t look that serious at first, and I thought that maybe he’d just sprained/twisted his ankle and he’d be out for a couple of weeks at most, but the news that it’s this serious is a huge blow for an Everton team that’s really started to find its form recently. While we’re a long way from the Champions League places, I had hoped that a late push for the Europa League spots wouldn’t be beyond us, but Fellaini has been absolutely key for us in the past couple of months and he’ll be a big miss.
The upside of it, if there is one, is that Jack Rodwell is just now returning to fitness, and the defensive midfield role Fellaini has been playing should suit him perfectly. He’s big, strong, can tackle, hits a decent pass, and can score goals from distance with either foot. He’s not in Fellaini’s class yet, but he’s only a kid and a run of games will certainly help his development. We could also put Phil Neville in that role and play young Seamus Coleman at right back, as he’s another very promising youngster who would benefit from a run of games. At least with most of our players returning to fitness we can start to cover these injuries a bit easier. All we need now is Arteta to get fully match fit again, and Jagielka back at the heart of the defence, and we’ll be laughing.
Good result last night against Sporting Lisbon as well, just a shame we conceded that late goal. I’m confident we can go over there and score, it’s just whether we can restrict them as well. Man Utd at Goodison first though on Saturday. They’re in great form lately and Wayne Rooney has been on fire, and he’s the key to the match I think. If we can somehow keep him quiet, we’ll have a good chance of taking all 3 points off them. If he plays as well as he has been lately, we’ll be in trouble. Hopefully Yobo can have a good game against him. I know Yobo isn’t the highest regarded defender around, but he has the qualities to do well against Rooney – he’s quick, he’s strong, and he’s not easily knocked around. He is also prone to lapses in concentration though, and he can’t afford that on Saturday. Fingers crossed he’ll put in a performance I know he’s capable of, keep Rooney quiet, and Saha continues his excellent form and scores a couple for us.
