Everton man Mason Holgate ripped into by Michael Ball
Michael Ball has slammed Everton man Mason Holgate after he was sent off against Tottenham Hotspur.
The 25-year-old was brought off the bench to replace Allan but only lasted ten minutes before he produced a horror tackle on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Holgate won the ball, but his follow-through went straight into the Dane’s knee, and after a look at the VAR screen, Chris Kavanagh changed the initial yellow into a red [Sky Sports YouTube].
Speaking in his column for the Liverpool Echo, it is clear that Ball wasn’t happy with this tackle or Rafael Benitez’s decision to bring him on.
He said: “As for Holgate’s sending off, at first you thought it was a firm but fair challenge, but when you watch it back, you can see it’s a dangerous one.
“You just can’t do those sort of tackles anymore.
“He won the ball maybe a yard before his opponent; there was no need for him to follow through.
“It was a bit of a strange substitution with him coming on; maybe it was down to the confidence levels with Jean-Philippe Gbamin. Seeing a defender being chosen ahead of him to play in midfield might be another knock for him, but Holgate lost the ball twice and was left chasing shadows.”
Ball is not too happy with Holgate.
The former Barnsley man has hardly covered himself in glory in the last two Premier League games he has played in.
In the Wolves match, he performed poorly at the back and looked a bit lost, and on Sunday, he also looked lost and then got sent off.
However, in his defence, he isn’t a midfielder, so it was always going to be a bit difficult for him to adapt and make an impact.
Despite this, his red card could have cost his side an important point, so we can see why Ball wasn’t happy with the Toffees centre-back.
Given the way his last two games have gone, we would think that he is going to have to perform on the training ground to get back into the Toffees first team.
He will be banned for the next three league games, so hopefully, he can work hard on the training ground and show Benitez his worth.
In other Everton news, Michael Ball was left fuming with one decision on Sunday.
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