Everton were far from at their best in the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, with Roy Keane singling out Mason Holgate for his deficiencies in defence.
What did he say?
Since Carlo Ancelotti took over, Everton have looked rejuvenated but a run of tricky fixtures has brought them back down to earth, as they have picked up just one point from their last three games against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.
The latter in particular outplayed the Toffees, but it was far too easy for Frank Lamapard’s side to cut Everton apart.
The defence was offered little protection by the midfield as Mason Mount and Willian both scored from outside the box, but Keane felt Holgate could have done more to stop the latter and also Chelsea’s fourth which was scored by Olivier Giroud.
In his assessment of the match on Sky Sports Super Sunday (08/03), as reported by HITC, the pundit said:
“Look at Holgate [for Willian’s goal], look at Holgate’s effort there. He’s just signed a new contract and he’s getting lots of plaudits. But he has got to get out there [and block Willian’s shot]. The principles of the game haven’t changed.
“And again. Holgate gets bullied for this goal [Giroud’s]. It’s mad. We all love nice football but tackling is part of the game and the physical side of it.”
Bigger issues at play
While Holgate could have done better to prevent the Blues from scoring, he was one of just many Everton players who underperformed at Stamford Bridge.
There was a lack of intensity to their play with Chelsea’s midfield running the show, as 61% possession and Billy Gilmour’s Man of the Match award attest to.
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Holgate is still learning and has impressed of late with WhoScored ratings of 7.4 and 8.5 against Brighton and West Ham respectively, and he will need to use these errors to improve – such as the fact he conceded possession on 14 occasions against Chelsea.
Ancelotti seems to like him, too, as he has featured in every league game under the Toffees boss, but the Italian must look to operate with a midfield that has a more defensive mindset. Tom Davies, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andre Gomes produced just one tackle and zero interceptions between them at Stamford Bridge.
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That underlines the bigger problems that exist currently, with Bruno Fernandes’ goal last week also an example of the midfield giving away far too much space to a danger man.
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