While Everton secured another fine win last night at Leicester, losing Brazilian midfielder Allan to injury was a huge blow.
Allan was having another superb game hunting down his opponents and providing all the usual energy and combativeness when he pulled up with his injury. Everton now face the prospect of losing him for a possible six weeks meaning he won’t be able to play until the end of January.
In the game last night Abdoulaye Doucoure stepped up superbly to take on the burden from his central midfield partner.
But he can’t be expected to perform like that for the next six weeks, can he..? Even if he did, at some point he might need a break given the relentless fixtures over the next two months.
So who could replace the Brazil international if that’s needed? The obvious alternative is Mason Holgate. The young defender has played in central midfield in the past, particularly when Duncan Ferguson was in temporary charge.
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Holgate has the pace, defensive instincts and passing ability to play in that position. But moving the defender into the middle would create other problems for this team.
A key reason why the Toffees have played so well in these two wins has been the solidity of the new-look backline with Holgate and Ben Godfrey excelling at full-back.
Moving Holgate out of his new position at right-back would disrupt that defence just after it has made a big contribution to achieving two consecutive clean sheets.
This conundrum will be solved to some extent if Seamus Coleman can return and reproduce the kind of performances he was putting in during the first four matches of the season.
However, Coleman has been out now for a while and even if he is technically fit for Saturday’s game, (still not certain), then he will obviously lack match sharpness having just come back.
The other obvious candidate to come in at right-back would be Jonjo Kenny but he’s not good enough and isn’t going to replace Holgate’s defensive contribution so he’s very unlikely to play.
Finally, one other remote possibility is putting Alex Iwobi back there where he has operated recently. That though would take away from his contribution up front and would only be a very slim possibility if James Rodriguez is able to return on the right of the attack.
If not Holgate in midfield, then there’s Tom Davies. But again I think it’s clear he simply doesn’t offer enough defensive strength or consistent passing ability to replace Allan.
At any rate it gives Carlo Ancelotti yet more thinking to do and some big selection decisions to make with very little time before Arsenal arrive on Saturday afternoon.