Danny Mills left confused by Ancelotti’s team selection in Everton win over Palace
Although Everton claimed a very creditable 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace last Saturday to continue their recent resurgence, there was one surprise involved.
Given his sensational form this season, it was absolutely baffling to see centre back Mason Holgate drop to the bench against the Eagles.
England international Michael Keane came into the Toffees’ starting XI in his place, partnering Yerry Mina.
But you’d certainly forgive Holgate for feeling rather hard done by to miss another victory under Carlo Ancelotti.
Former England international Danny Mills thinks that there might’ve been something else going on to explain Ancelotti’s decision.
“I don’t know if he’s picked up a bit of a knock or anything like that, but it’s an interesting one,” he told Football Insider.
“Mason Holgate has been playing great, he’s changed all his form around and then he was left out of the side.
“All of a sudden Michael Keane comes in, they win the game – again, that’s going to be one to watch I think. I just wonder whether maybe he had a little bit of a knock or something like that.”
Will Keane keep Holgate out now?
Surely one good game from Keane alongside Mina in a solid win won’t be enough to discount Holgate’s whole campaign of excellence.
You wouldn’t have thought so anyway, but you never know. Plus, there’s the wildcard that Mills mentions of Holgate potentially having a knock.
He’ll get a bit of a break now to hopefully recover if he was dealing with a problem, and if that’s the case then he should return next time out.
Holgate has been the team’s best centre half this term, so maybe Ancelotti was just shuffling his pack.
In other Everton news, former Toffees star Kevin Campbell has been raving about one star Blue.