Andy Gray reacts instantly on-air as Everton suffer 3-2 defeat v Brentford
Andy Gray believes the “fragility of confidence” of Everton when they went down to ten men was the deciding factor in their defeat to Brentford.
The Toffees endured a miserable afternoon and it was compounded by Jarrad Branthwaite and Salomón Rondón’s red cards.
Gray believes that Everton’s fragile nature was laid bare after having to play 70 minutes with ten men.
Talking on beIN Sports, Gray said: “Just because you lose a man you shouldn’t automatically put into your head that you’re going to get beaten
“The fragility of the confidence of Everton at the moment means that when they went down to ten men with so long to go, I think it had a huge effect on the outcome of the game.”
All went wrong
As much as Gray has a point regarding Everton’s confidence at the moment, they completely sat back in the second period after their positive first half.
Everton were the better side in the early exchanges and even after Branthwaite’s red card they still looked comfortable in the game.
Whether it was a natural reaction to drop deep or something they had been told, it didn’t have the desired effect.
They dropped far too deep and completely lost their discipline in the closing stages of the encounter.
This defeat means Everton will have to beat Crystal Palace to avoid having to win on the final day against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Lampard will be disappointed to have only taken one point from a possible six against Watford and Brentford, with the two fixtures looking favourable on paper.
The last two fixtures seem as if the players thought merely turning up would warrant all three points.
In other Everton news, Jeff Stelling was interrupted by a Sky Sports pundit who wanted to make a point about Evertonians on Sky Sports News.
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