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Ben Godfrey was the only bright spark for Everton v Aston Villa
Everton had a night to forget after losing 2-1 to Aston Villa but Ben Godfrey should be proud of his performance once again.
The defender has proved to be one of the signings of the season after arriving for £20million from Norwich [Sky Sports].
He has never once looked out of place despite playing in every position across the back four – something which demonstrates the “unbelievable appetite for football” that Chris Coleman says he has [The Focus via Sky].
In fact, against Villa he was our best player and though many others struggled around him, most notably Mason Holgate, Godfrey stood up and at times he was a one-man defence.
Jordan Pickford deserves credit for his saves but Godfrey also prevented the scoreline being a lot worse.
The 23-year-old blocked three shots and got rid of danger with three clearances too, per WhoScored.
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He also made two tackles and three interceptions – no teammate made more than Godfrey.
Godfrey has made a very good impression at Goodison Park and Carlo Ancelotti will have learnt a lot on Saturday.
In recent weeks the defender has shown he can be trusted – he was vital to our clean sheet against Arsenal and in the win over Liverpool at Anfield.
That means he does not buckle under pressure and is actually capable of stopping some of the best attackers in the division.
He is also very effective with the ball at his feet, and against Villa he only conceded possession three times, due in part to a return of 92% pass accuracy, per SofaScore.
Godfrey has played 14 times at centre-back in the league but we are eager for him to be given an even bigger role in the squad, so the club should avoid signing a centre-back.
Kalidou Koulibaly and Merih Demiral are reportedly on our radar but Godfrey’s development should be our priority.
As for the rest of squad, there is clearly a big improvement needed ahead of next season.
We could qualify for the Europa League but we must strengthen in attack if we are going to challenge the top four.
James Rodriguez’s absence was felt far too much against Villa and in order to improve our dreadful home form we need more players capable of creating chances and controlling a game.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have made an approach to sign a Premier League centre-midfielder who Marcelo Bielsa raved about this week.
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