Dwight McNeil stinks – Everton player ratings in 2-1 defeat v Aston Villa
Everton travelled to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon and fell to a 2-1 defeat as the Premier League season starts with two consecutive defeats.
Frank Lampard made a couple of changes with the most notable being Conor Coady coming into the heart of the defence after signing from Wolves.
It didn’t start too well with the lack of a striker a real issue as Danny Ings smashed home which was then followed by Emi Buendia, although Amadou Onana did force an own-goal from Lucas Digne in response.
Goodison News rated the players out of 10 below…
Jordan Pickford – 6
The England international had very little to do throughout the game and was helpless as Ings smashed past him in the opening 45 minutes, his distribution was solid enough.
Nathan Patterson – 8
It is hard to see how Seamus Coleman is going to get back into this side. Patterson has been a real breath of fresh air at the start of this season, with his defensive work solid and his attacking output much better – that continued today.
Conor Coady – 6
It was a solid enough debut in the back three for the Wolves loanee, but you could tell at times that the pace of Ollie Watkins really caused him problems as the game opened up – his leadership will be key.
James Tarkowski – 7
The former Burnley man is going to be a real handful at set-pieces for any club, as he caused panic at every opportunity, with the only thing missing either a goal or an assist from those scenarios. Defensively, he was solid enough again.
Mason Holgate – 6
Holgate can be very frustrating at times, spending more time on the floor and moaning than getting on with things. You expect when Yerry Mina returns, he will be the first to drop out despite doing a job on either side of Ings’ goal.
Vitalii Mykolenko – 6
It was a frustrating afternoon for the Ukrainian, as he and Matty Cash kind of cancelled each other out in both attacking thirds limiting their influence on the game.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 4
Another injury. It is hard to believe the luck of the Frenchman right now, who seems to be picking up more injuries than he ever has, especially when you add in those problems from last season.
Alex Iwobi – 6
Iwobi was everywhere yet again, but he did give the ball away needlessly on numerous occasions, and when away from home playing defensively, you cannot afford to do that.
Demarai Gray – 5
Quiet. Gray had a couple of opportunities to get his name on the team sheet, but both times fluffed his lines – these are the chances you cannot throw away when playing without a recognised striker.
Anthony Gordon – 7
The livewire yet again. Gordon is trying his best to try and create a spark in the final third, but he was often frustrated when taking on a couple of men and finding no one in support – it has to change soon.
Dwight McNeil – 4
Shocker. The big attacking signing of the summer so far just failed to show anything whatsoever in the final third, looking lacklustre at the best of times. The perfect example of that was when he got the perfect chance to slide in Gray easily, but smashed it far past him – a sorry afternoon.
Substitutes: Tom Davies – 6, Salomon Rondon – 3, Dele Alli – 6, Amadou Onana – 8