Everton of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi will soon revert to his preferred role behind the two strikers once things stabilise at Goodison Park, says The Toffees’ coach, Carlo Ancelotti.
Iwobi has starred as a wing-back in Everton’s last two matches, with a sterling performance first time out but looked shaky this past weekend, only for Ancelotti to give the Super Eagles’ star a pat on the back and declared that he is only serving a temporary duty for the club.
Iwobi will be comforted to learn that he is making a huge sacrifice for the sake of his team, as Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti admits his switch to playing three central defenders is an “emergency” situation imposed on him because of injuries.
The Italian will be without both first-choice full-backs – Seamus Coleman (hamstring) and Lucas Digne (ankle) – for the trip to Burnley so is likely to persist with his 3-4-3 formation.
In last weekend’s defeat at home to Leeds, Anceloti utilised midfielders Tom Davies and Iwobi in the wing-back positions but accepts that will only be a temporary measure as he prefers 4-3-3.
Despite the absence of Digne, who could be sidelined for up to three months after surgery this week, Ancelotti chose not to play his only naturally left-footed defensive player Niels Nkounkou against Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Ancelotti expatiated: “I think it’s an emergency because we have two important players in Coleman and Digne out. It is only for this reason.
“We have the quality in the squad to play also with three centre-backs, because we have a lot of good centre-backs, but I think it’s a moment.
“The fact that we can play with three or four is good for us. Nkounkou was not in the squad because I have 11 players, I decided to put Iwobi on the left. The squad is really big.”
