Fabian Delph has made Everton fans say something they never thought they would

Michael Ball talks about Anthony Gordon's new importance to Everton, the benchmark set by Fabian Delph and what next for Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Anthony Gordon has been the shining light for Everton this season. His ability, his work rate and his desire to help his team-mates out.

But also when he gets the ball to try and create opportunities, deliver set-pieces. He’s getting the ball deep and running at defenders, he’s getting fouls, he’s everywhere.

He’s shown the willingness and desire that we’ve wanted from the majority of the other players. It must be so frustrating game after game, not getting a win or a goal, that after all the work that you’ve put in you’ve got nothing to show for it.

It shows how strong his mentality is to keep going, to keep learning and listen to the manager, as well as the senior pros around him, to add to his game.

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He’s got that young energy and he’s become one of our key players, so when he comes off that football pitch he should be thinking about ‘how many opportunities did I make today’ or ‘how many shots’.

So to finally come off the pitch after scoring the winner, that’s going to give him huge confidence to keep going and show that hard work he’s been doing under Lampard at Finch Farm is paying off.

Not just being a key player, but also making a difference of scoring the winner or assisting for his team-mates, and that’s what Frank will be asking of him.

Every opposition team talk between now and the end of the season will be about how to stop Anthony Gordon. Because they know he’s the driving force for us, he and Richarlison are our key players who are going to commit the opposition.

Gordon’s got to be aware of the fact that teams are going to try and frustrate him, because he’s everywhere and it’s great to see.

Delph return sets midfield benchmark

The majority of us probably wouldn’t have said it at the start of the season, but you hope that Fabian Delph can get back fit.

He’s got that experience, he was at Aston Villa when they were struggling so he’s got the knowhow of getting through games.

But he’s also won things with Manchester City, so he’s got that winning mentality. It’s the best of both worlds where he can express to his team-mates around him, but also take that extra touch to calm things around him.

When he hasn’t been there we’ve probably panicked and given the ball away far too quickly, so that extra touch has helped us keep possession at times.

That’s what happens and that’s the ability he’s got at the football club, and to see the level he's got after being out far too long injured. Yes it’s been frustrating for the fans the amount of minutes that he’s not been available, but it shows what he’s got.

He’s got 10-break days to recover, he’ll be sore because I know what it’s like to come back after an injury.

The performances are what we’ve been lacking in midfield, we’ve had to change our personnel so many times this season, it’s so difficult to get consistency.

That’s what Frank’s been hoping for, if it’s Delph or someone else, they are going to have to look at that performance against Manchester United and think ‘right, I understand what we need now’.

Mini-break chance for Calvert-Lewin to reassess

The 10-day break is a chance to recharge the batteries and a chance for other players like Dominic Calvert-Lewin to sharpen up a little bit.

He looks like he’s playing within himself a little bit, maybe he’s not trusting his body at this moment.

From the outside looking in I’m not too sure, but maybe he’s maybe being asked to play when he’s only 60-70 percent fit, which doesn’t look good on the eye at times.

Those 10 days will be a good chance for him to recover and also get his sharpness back. Maybe look at himself and think if he can do a little bit more.

When you can’t play at 100 per cent, what you do you need to do right. Dominic hasn’t been holding the ball up, and he hasn’t been running into channels that he used to do a couple of years ago.

He used to run in the channels and chase down lost causes. I don’t think he’s got the fitness levels he needs to do that for the full 90 minutes.

At Finch Farm, Frank will be looking at what he can ask for other players in certain scenarios. Other players will be able to get their fitness up.