Pickford disappoints, Davies shines – Everton player ratings v Watford
Everton suffered a shock 5-2 defeat at home against Watford on Saturday afternoon.
Leading 2-1 going into the business end, many expected the Toffees to hold on for a win, but they conceded four late goals to be humiliated in front of the Goodison Park faithful.
Richarlison’s return from an injury and his subsequent goal proved to be the only silver lining all afternoon.
Here’s how we rated the Toffees players:
Jordan Pickford 3
Conceding five is never a good look for a goalkeeper and he could be faulted for his positioning in at least three of the Watford goals. Pickford, a Benitez favourite, did not seem like he was in command of his penalty area or the defence in front of him. Poor display.
Seamus Coleman 5
Fared well in the first half, but seemed to be getting overrun plenty of times in the second. Not the best of games for the skipper.
Michael Keane 4
Keane continues to divide opinion among Toffees fans but this performance could have been the final straw. Had Yerry Mina been fit he would’ve started. The Englishman was guilty for two goals and he just does not seem confident in defence for Everton.
Ben Godfrey 5
Individually it could be argued he had a few good moments, but in a two, with Keane, he was just all over the place. There seemed to be little to no communication between the two centre-backs and the goalkeeper all game.
Lucas Digne 6
The best of Everton’s back five, which does not come as a surprise. He was competing for duels all over the pitch and did his best getting forward and combining with the likes of Anthony Gordon and Demarai Gray.
Andros Townsend 6
Given how high he’s set the bar with his recent performances, this was a tad underwhelming, to say the least. He did not assert that sort of authority one would think he would, but he’ll have better games for the Blues.
Tom Davies 7
The only reason he started was down to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s injury and he did a terrific job in the middle of the park. He was tidy in possession, kept getting forward looking to make things happen and was also rewarded for his efforts with a goal.
Allan 6
Not the best of outings for the Brazilian and it could be because he did not have Doucoure alongside him. At times it did seem that Davies and he were on two different tangents entirely.
Anthony Gordon 6.5
Came in for Alex Iwobi and did a reasonably good job down the left. Played the pass to Gray that helped him set up the opening goal and otherwise was threatening whenever the Toffees attacked down the left.
Demarai Gray 7
Set up the first goal and even when the chips were down he looked to be the one who tried to make things happen. It would come as no surprise that after he was brought off, Watford took control of the game and fired four in quick succession.
Salomon Rondon 5.5
Another underwhelming display from the Venezuelan. It took Richarlison a couple of minutes to score after coming on while Rondon did nothing to get into those kinds of positions. Really tame display from the veteran.
Substitutes
Richarlison 7
Alex Iwobi 5
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