Sean Dyche must avoid starting Mason Holgate again after torrid display v Manchester City
Everton saw their Premier League survival hopes suffer a significant dent as Manchester City ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.
Ilkay Gundogan put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead with a stunning first-half strike before Erling Haaland doubled the visitor’s lead from the German midfielder’s sublime cross moments later.
The 32-year-old maestro added City’s third and his second with a delightful free-kick in the early stages of the second half as Guardiola’s now champions-elect had too much for Sean Dyche and his men to cope with.
The defeat leaves Everton just one point and one place above the relegation zone heading into the final two fixtures of the 2022/23 season.
With the Blues facing a huge test next away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday [20 May], Dyche certainly has some tough decisions to make regarding his squad.
But a rather easy one must be made if Everton are to avoid the ignominy of a dreadful Premier League relegation and that is the decision to drop first-team flop Mason Holgate.
The Toffees centre-back made just his seventh start of the Premier League season against City at the weekend, taking the place of the injured Vitaly Mykolenko and his last start against Crystal Palace ended in calamitous style as he was sent off for picking up his second yellow card with 80 minutes on the clock.
Against City on Sunday, the Everton faithful will have preferred to have him sent off again than putting in another costly and anonymous performance.
As per SofaScore, the defender picked up the worst average rating of any player on the pitch at 5.5/10, only managed to record three passes throughout his 56 minutes on the pitch, failed to win any of his total duels, was dribbled past twice as Riyad Mahrez gave him another tough afternoon in an Everton shirt and missed a gaping chance from a corner to give Everton any sort of much-needed hope.
The former Burnley boss was absolutely right to take him off when he did, going to a five-man system with Dwight McNeil as the left wing-back and Conor Coady in a left centre-back role. As soon as Holgate came off the pitch, Everton looked as solid as they’d ever been throughout the entire 90 minutes.
That may have to be the solution Dyche attempts against Wolves, with Mykolenko still rather uncertain to return from a thigh injury.
Under both Frank Lampard and Dyche, Holgate has been placed down the bottom of the Everton pecking order, with the likes of James Tarkowski, Connor Coady, Ben Godfrey and lately Michael Keane all preferred in the heart of the club’s defence.
Considering his lack of minutes, lack of quality and poor injury record over a number of seasons, a summer departure must be considered by the Toffees.
But for now, with Everton in such a tense and nerve-racking situation just floating above the relegation places by a point, Dyche can ill-afford to make the same mistake again, starting a player who isn’t well-equipped to help the club in their time of desperate need.