The Dutchman arrived at Goodison Park on deadline day of the January transfer window on a six-month loan deal from Manchester United with new Toffees boss Frank Lampard playing a huge role in bringing in him.
Van de Beek made his full Premier League debut for Everton at the weekend in their 3-0 win over Leeds and caught the eye with a commanding display in the middle of the park.
Former Everton star Ball revealed that one of his major concerns with Everton signing the Red Devil was whether he was ready to roll up his sleeves and battle it out in relegation scrap.
However, Ball stressed that Van de Beek worked hard, moved the ball up the pitch and was composed while being not afraid to make challenges in a perfect midfield display against the Whites.
“My only concern with his signing was the same as many others”, Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“We are in a relegation dogfight and was he the type of person who could roll his sleeves up and get stuck in?
“There is no doubting his footballing ability, but my only concern was whether he had the fight in him to help us move away from danger.
“But what we witnessed from him on Saturday was a perfect midfield performance.
“Everything about his game was great.
“He worked hard, put his foot in when required and showed plenty of composure on the ball and looked to get us moving up the pitch as fast and as often as he could.
“He made things look simple on Saturday because he was always making the right decisions, in and out of possession.”
The Everton faithful were enthralled by Van de Beek’s display last week and will be hoping there is lot more to come from the Toffees new boy in the remaining games of the season.
