Everton manager Sean Dyche has sent a handful of players out on loan this season in order to develop themselves away from Goodison Park.
One such player is striker Neal Maupay, who has temporarily joined his former club Brentford for the remainder of the campaign.
The attacker regularly found the back of the net for the Bees back when he first moved to the West London outfit in 2017..
But times have changed, and Maupay is extremely bereft of confidence, as was proven in Brentford’s 2-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday (28 October).
The 27-year-old was introduced by manager Thomas Frank in the 76th minute at Stamford Bridge, with the visitors winning 1-0 at that stage.
The Blues appeared to be finding a way to equalize as the minutes ticked away, culminating in goalkeeper Robert Sanchez heading Chelsea’s cross in the dying seconds.
However, the free-kick saw Brentford clear the ball, led by substitute Maupay, with teammate Bryan Mbeumo also running forward, with Sanchez reversing.
Maupay seemed about to score but the striker was blocked by the Chelsea goalkeeper as he ran towards the goal, leaving Maupay with no other choice but to put the ball at Mbuemo’s feet to head home.
Some supporters might even argue that the loan player does not even intend to pass to his strike partner.. Regardless, a healthy and confident Maupay will certainly take that opportunity himself.
But this wasn’t the only incident at Stamford Bridge that left Dyche confused, as Maupay received a yellow card early in the second half when he wasn’t even on the field.
According to BBC Sport, the striker was booked after passing Chelsea player Cole Palmer and pushing the ball away to prevent the Blues from taking a free kick in the 56th minute.
