Abdoulaye Doucoure was speaking after Everton picked up their first point of the new Premier League season by drawing 1-1 at Leicester City
Abdoulaye Doucoure has revealed he’s stunned by comparisons between Iliman Ndiaye and himself. But he admits his new Everton team-mate is great to play alongside.
When Ndiaye joined the Blues from Olympique Marseille this summer, many believed that the Senegal international would be rivalling Doucoure for the most advanced central midfielder role in the team’s usual 4-5-1 formation.
However, the former Sheffield United player has been primarily deployed as a left winger so far with Dwight McNeil switching to the ‘number 10’ previously occupied by Doucoure.
The 31-year-old, who netted seven times last season, reprised that role when he scored against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday but having gone deeper at Leicester City to play alongside Orel Mangala, who was making his first start, he is surprised that some have identified him as a like-for-like alternative to Ndiaye.
Doucoure said: “Iliman is a top player. He can play left, play 10. Some people try to compare us but we are so different so I don’t understand why people try to make this competition between me and him.
“I want to keep playing with him. He’s a top player and is going to give us a lot this season.
“He’s very skilful, can keep the ball and score goals. Jesper (Lindstrom) played very well too so it’s nice competition and he will give us more choice.”
Although Mangala, a deadline day loan signing from Olympique Lyonnais was making his first Premier League start for Everton, Doucoure was pleased with how the pair of them slotted in together with the Belgium international having previous experience in the competition with Nottingham Forest.
He said: “Orel is a very clever, experienced player. We played great together again.
“I felt comfortable. I used to play in this position at Watford and it’s something I’m used to. I need to come back to this and keep my place in the team.
“I used to play in this position but in recent years I’ve been playing in a more advanced role, wherever the manager is going to play me, I’ll try my best. I probably need a couple of games to be more comfortable in this position but this afternoon I showed great character and desire, and I want to keep working on it.”
After being out of the starting line-up for the previous two Premier League matches, Doucoure admitted it has been a difficult start to the season for him personally, but he welcomes the added competition for places. He said: “I had a couple of hard weeks. I didn’t find my best level and was dropped.
“That’s always a good reminder that there’s healthy competition this year. Everyone has to show (something) when they’re starting to keep their place, Tim (Iroegbunam) wasn’t playing today (in the starting line-up) and he was one of the best in the team so far this season.
“There’s competition in the team and the level is quite good, Jimmy Garner played very well at right-back, Gana (Idrissa Gueye) will come back. It gives the manager more options and is good for the team.
After four consecutive defeats, Doucoure hopes that a first Premier League point of the season proves to be a watershed moment for the Everton squad who now have back-to-back home games against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United before the next international break.
He said: “We should have won the game but in our situation it’s a point gained because we needed to start with something. This was a good start, and we need to keep working on the performance.
“I think it’s a fitness problem. When you don’t win, everything starts to be a bit harder, but we were very unfortunate to concede the goal. Everyone worked hard and we conceded less chances. Last season was the same, we started very badly but we know we’re going to finish strong.
“Yes, I hope it’s a turning point, I thought the performance was one of our best. Away here is not easy and we should have won comfortably.
“We said at half-time that it was going to be a 90-minute game, and we needed to fight. We conceded the goal but fought for each other, showed fewer weaknesses and it’s a good starting point.”
Although he is now one of the most experienced players in the Everton dressing room, Doucoure acknowledges that throughout his career he has never experienced conditions quite like the torrential rain and thunderstorm that descended upon the King Power Stadium for the middle part of Saturday’s match. For now though, it feels like something of a novelty.
He said: “As bad as this? No. It was a great experience. It was quite hard, you couldn’t see properly and had water on your shoes. It felt very heavy.”
