Source: Liverpool_Echo
Everton manager David Moyes has a dilemma on Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini
DAVID MOYES has admitted he is facing a dilemma on how best to fit Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini into the same team.
Everton return to Premier League action at Fulham on Sunday and Moyes now has a number of selection issues.
But while many supporters will be wondering how he intends to squeeze Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and John Heitinga into his starting line-up, a bigger riddle revolves around Cahill and Fellaini – last season’s joint-leading scorers.
When Everton beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 before the international break, Cahill started in his preferred role behind Louis Saha and Fellaini dropped down to the bench.
The end result saw Cahill enjoy his best performance of the campaign to date but Fellaini also flourished when coming on in the final 20 minutes to change the game.
Now Moyes – who will watch new signing Heitinga play for Holland against Scotland tonight – must decide whether to do something similar at Craven Cottage, as he has revealed one of his attacking midfielders will have to miss out in certain games.
“There will be times when I use Tim in some games and Fellaini in others and not both together,” said Moyes. “But, as well as that, I know I can play them together if I have to.
“Once I get a squad, that will happen. At the moment, I don’t have a squad to make those decisions.
“I thought Felli had his best game (of the season) against Olomouc. His second season will be tough. I thought the first six months of this season would be the hardest for him.
“I thought this might be the hardest period and he might find it tough to reach those heights again. He has been a bit down but the good thing is that he knows about it, he is aware of it.
“That gives me great hope. When players don’t recognise that they are not playing as well as they should be, that’s when you have problems but Felli recognises he can play much better.”
Fellaini’s summer, of course, was decimated when he picked up a debilitating virus and he spent much of pre-season desperately trying to rediscover his fitness.
The squad Moyes will take to London this weekend will have a more robust look to it and he feels an indication of how Everton can expect to fare will be gauged by looking at the bench.
“Felli made a big impact when he came on and altered the tempo,” said Moyes. “We haven’t always had the options on the bench to change things around, certainly not this season. When we get Mikel and Yak back in the coming months, I can see us having a much stronger squad.”
