Ancelotti gives Everton defender warning

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has sent centre-half Yerry Mina a warning shot about his form after the Colombian’s shaky display in yesterday’s 5-2 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Mina had a difficult day on Saturday and his erratic play, especially his failure to close down the Baggies Grady Diangara, contributed to Everton conceding the opening goal, after ten minutes or so of the first half.

Ancelotti has been quoted as saying that Mina was ‘average’ in the Blues win and said he needs to add more aggression to his game.

Strangely for such a big and powerful defender, Mina does sometimes seem to lack enough aggression and desire for the fight.

He also occasionally has games where he appears to switch off and lose concentration and that can lead to mistakes and the conceding of goals.

It’s a problem that’s not unique to the big centre-back, but it is an issue he needs to deal with as otherwise he has all the tools to be a very good defender.

Such a statement from his manager will be a little worrying for the Colombian, especially given that it’s a public statement and to hear it this early in the campaign.

Although his place in the first team is not under threat at the moment, not least because of the injuries to Mason Holgate and Jarrad Branthwaite, everyone knows the Toffees are in the market for another centre-back.

If Everton do get another central defender in, as everyone expects that they will, one of Mina or his partner at the back, Micheal Keane, could well lose their place.

Keane has been in very good, consistent form ever since the return of the Premier League after lockdown and seems to have responded well to Ancelotti’s leadership. So much so that the England man was given a long-term contract extension just a few weeks ago.

The former Burnley player scored on Saturday, his second goal in consecutive games and looked very solid defensively. So with all that in mind it would seem as though his place is pretty secure.

I’ve said many times that I’m not convinced that Keane and Mina can play together, week in, week out. They are both big, strong, natural defenders great in the air, but they can sometimes get caught out and lack the out-and-out pace needed in the modern game.

Bacause of the lack of real pace, they have to defend a bit more deeply when they are together and that doesn’t always suit what Everton need.

Keane was at his best when he played with Kurt Zouma in the 2018-19 season, or Holgate more recently, both of whom had a bit more pace to recover their position.

So it would seem that on balance, Mina is the one whose place in the team is most vulnerable and the Everton boss has perhaps decided to send him a little reminder of that. Hopefully he will get a positive response from his Colombian defender.

In other related news it looks as though the Blues will be sending young defender Lewis Gibson out on loan again this season.

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This is something I don’t understand. The club are dealing with a mini crisis because of injuries to their central defenders, so they loan out the only other available player in that position apart from Mina and Keane?

It just doesn’t make any sense, especially considering he looked a very solid prospect when he got a few chances in pre-season. Surely he deserves a chance to see if he, like Branthwaite, can step up and play in the Premier League.

Finally, Everton are being linked with a move for a Championship player, the Brentford left-back Rico Henry. This is move that doesn’t make much sense.

One thing the Toffees don’t really need is another left-back as alongside the outstanding Lucas Digne, Niels Nkounkou, despite his youth, has also shown plenty of quality and composure.

The Blues are looking for central defensive reinforcements, so I think we can file this one under ‘very unlikely’ and move on.