Everton: Sean Dyche must drag Ashley Young off at HT v Man City, he’s been woeful on the ball
Sean Dyche must drag Ashley Young off at half-time in the Everton game against Manchester City on Saturday (10 February).
The former England international was selected in the starting lineup once again after the Toffees boss decided to name an unchanged lineup from the side that drew 2-2 against Tottenham on 3 February.
The 38-year-old really showed his age in the first half as he was employed on the right-hand side of the midfield to protect Ben Godfrey behind him.
He offered absolutely nothing going forward during the first half, having touched the ball just 15 times, most of which was facing his own goal.
It’s clear that he wasn’t named in the starting lineup to create chances and get up the pitch, but he really looked to be struggling to get to grips with the pace of the game.
In the opening 20 minutes, he failed to make a single pass to one of his teammates, proving why it was a risk to start him against a Man City side who are full of energy [SofaScore].
With the tricky Jeremy Doku growing into the game and putting Godfrey under plenty of pressure, Young struggled to get back and help out his defender.
While Sean Dyche will be pleased to see his side go in at 0-0 following a strong defensive display, where they limited the Citizens to very few clear-cut chances, the right-hand side of the pitch will be a concern.
The Blues boss could bring on the returning Amadou Onana to shore things up in the middle of the park, with Jack Harrison moving out to the right to provide some more legs.
On the couple of occasions Young managed to get forward, he couldn’t find a teammate with either of his two crosses.
He registered just a 33 per cent pass accuracy across the half after giving the ball away nine times with his 15 touches, while he also committed one foul after winning just one of his four duels.
Dyche simply must take him off at half-time to ensure he doesn’t harm the Blues’ chances of coming away with something from the Etihad.
If they can get a point, that would provide a massive boost to their Premier League survival hopes this season.
In other Everton news, Ally McCoist has shared a new Toffees relegation prediction live on talkSPORT.
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