Andy Goldstein clashes with Darren Bent over Everton relegation verdict on talkSPORT
Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent clashed on their views about Everton on talkSPORT with the latter claiming they were “atrocious” against Bournemouth.
The Toffees were unceremoniously dumped out of the Carabao Cup by the Cherries who ran out 4-1 winners on the South Coast after Frank Lampard opted to make 11 changes to his team.
Goldstein was left baffled by Lampard’s decision not to pursue a proper run in the League Cup have been thumped by what he described as “Bournemouth’s B team.”
“The last couple of seasons have been about survival,” Bent said before Goldstein responded, “Have they? but Everton are bigger than that. They can afford Benty, certainly with one game before the World Cup, they can afford to go on some kind of cup run.”
“Bournemouth; it wasn’t 1-0, they got smashed by Bournemouth’s B team.”
“They did but you look at the FA Cup, they got to the quarter-finals under Frank,” Bent fired back. “I think Frank Lampard needs to find some consistency in the league.
“But that team last night (Tuesday 8 November) should be able to hold themselves accountable because they were atrocious.”
Squad depth
Having a decent starting XI is all well and good when they are all fit and not suspended but over the course of the season, most of them will pick up some form of a knock to rule them out of games.
That means the fringe players have to be good enough to stand up and be counted when they are called upon and none of the Everton group could manage that at the Vitality Stadium.
But this is a team needing a full overhaul from Rafael Benitez’s days and Lampard could only do so much in the summer with financial restrictions holding him back in places.
He has done a fairly decent job in making the first-choice team competitive in most scenarios even if there are still holes that need filling should the opportunity arise.
January has to be about finding players to properly challenge the norm at Goodison Park rather than settle for a spot on the bench and the odd start in the cup.