Holgate's struggles prompt new Everton central defender question

One of the most depressing aspects of Saturday’s defeat for Everton to Aston Villa was the awful performance of Mason Holgate.

The Everton defender had a nightmare of a match against Villa making a schoolboy error, (not the first of this kind either), when a terrible backpass let Ollie Watkins nip in and score Villa’s opener.

He struggled all game to deal with the fast and powerful Watkins and Betrand Traore who was also dangerous for the visitors.

Holgate has had a really difficult season and has struggled badly at times to find any consistent form all though the campaign.

It hasn’t helped that he’s been in and out of the side and playing centre-back and full-back but even so last weekend’s debacle was a particular example.

The Englishman has had a troubled time in the Blues team ever since he first got into the starting eleven a few seasons back.

But there were times such as when he was playing regularly with Micheal Keane for a while where he seemed to have found his feet.

And this season Holgate has actually been reasonably solid when he has played as a full-back in the defence that Carlo Ancelotti put in place last December or when he has operated as a centre-back in a three-man defence.

I think that’s actually Holgate’s best position although strangely Ancelotti plays him on the left and Ben Godfrey on the right, the opposite of how I would line-up.

In fact that sort of back-three actually seems the best defensive formation generally given the players the manager has at his disposal.

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The difference in performances this season with Godfrey is striking.

The young summer signing has been outstanding whenever and wherever he has played. He was particularly outstanding when he played at left-back during that period in December.

While Godfrey has certainly cemented his place in this Everton team, Holgate’s future is far less secure and he might well find himself out of the team again next season.

That will especially be the case if the Toffees go and sign another central defender in the summer as they have been repeatedly rumoured to being doing so.

I’m not convinced that the Blues need to spend the sort of money being quoted for another centre-back like Koulibaly.

Holgate has five matches to see if he can try and show he can still have a role and a place in the Everton team next season.

Holgate’s struggles prompt new Everton defender question

By Matt Townsend | May 5, 2021

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