Have to feel somewhat bad for him, his outstanding impact from the bench has doubtless warranted a starting opportunity, yet the setup and situation into which he was thrown today gave him little opportunity to impress, a merseyside derby at Goodison Park can be a daunting prospect for any player, least of all an inexperienced young professional playing out of position.
His appearances to date for Fulham in particular have primarily come as a CAM or L/RW, meaning he naturally tends to play in the attacking midfield line when given the opportunity - this naturally casts him in the role of left half space attacker (think David Silva under Pep) when playing as the left sided eight.
To make this viable offensively without exposing the team to excess on transition it would be necessary to pair him with an inverted fullback; unfortunately that didn't occur. This led to a diminished on-ball impact, as there was no LIFB to punch balls into the left half space, and exposed the left had side of the team to a severe transitional threat. Naturally as an offensive player, his ability to defend deep in a block wasn't particularly convincing; in truth the same could be said for Xavi/Iniesta - but his impact in possession would need to be similarly superb to mitigate that tactical complication, as of yet it isn't.
I do believe that he can have a future as an eight, but only in the proper set up and with the proper experience - for now rotating with Diaz at LW and potentially Firmino at AM would make the best use of his talents.
He'll have a fantastic career with us, and will have much better opportunities to show why soon I'm sure.
