Just when you get something good, it’s snatched away from you.
Perhaps Rafa Benitez is now really learning what it feels like to be an Evertonian?
The Blues boss was delivered a crushing injury blow when it was announced that Abdoulaye Doucoure faces an extended period on the sidelines.
Just four days before Everton face his previous club Watford, the midfielder has damaged a metatarsal and is looking at a prolonged spell out of the team.
It would be a sickener at any point but talk about bad timing.
Doucoure has been like a man reborn under Benitez during the opening weeks of the campaign.
READ MORE: Everton dealt Abdoulaye Doucoure injury blow as operation planned
With the side having to find the net from other areas due to the absence of forward pair Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, the Frenchman has stepped up to the plate with two goals – already equalling his total from last season – and four assists, including the eye-catching passes for Demarai Gray at home to Burnley and Andros Townsend at Manchester United.
At the age of 28, while not necessarily ‘reinventing’ himself, Doucoure has shown that he offers much more than being merely a willing runner who can cover every blade of grass.
The cover star of Everton’s matchday programme against West Ham United last Sunday, he admitted that he wouldn’t have made the run to get on the end of Gray’s pass and score against Norwich City in their previous home game.
We’re told he said: “No, no way” in a forceful manner before adding: “I watched a lot of my games and I wasn’t in these positions.
“I was so deep and had no opportunities to attack.
“The goal against Norwich, I was high up the field and waiting for the ball.
“Last season, we had a lot of attacking threats… for me, it was more to prevent the counter-attack and cover on the wings, Seamus (Coleman) was going up as well and we needed balance.
“I was a little sacrificed in that system – but I showed a couple of times I could score. And this season, everyone can see I am able to provide assists as well.
“So yes, it was a bit frustrating last season. I wanted to show I could score goals. The midfielders have to score five or six a season and I couldn’t do it.
“But I sacrificed myself for the team. I made a lot of recoveries and defended well in midfield. It was like that.
“Sometimes, you have to just listen to the manager and play how he wants.”
While the personnel has been the same, Doucoure and Allan have dovetailed to great effect so far this term with both showing more attacking intent while not neglecting their defensive duties.
Now Benitez must decide who to pair the Brazilian with and while he’s not short of numbers, the options at his disposal do not provide him with anything close to resembling a ‘like-for-like’ replacement.
Tom Davies offers possibly the nearest comparison in terms of mobility and an ability to drive the ball forward and was on the bench against the Hammers along with £25million signing Jean-Philippe Gbamin who still remains something of an unknown quantity after just 236 minutes of action in over two largely injury-jinxed years at the club.
Talking of the treatment table, that’s where another couple of alternatives Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph remain.
Perhaps Doucoure’s blow could end up providing another of these squad members to force their way back in after their own injury woes but right now there seem few obvious positives to take from the situation.
