The fallout from last weekend’s disasterous defeat for Everton against Sheffield United continues with manager Carlo Ancelotti insisting that any players who are not happy can leave this summer.
The Guardian claim that the Everton boss has laid down the law to his players and made it clear that any of them not willing to give their best can move on.
Well that looked like it was virtually all of them if Sunday’s performance was anything to go by. I just hope that for tonight’s match these massively well paid footballers recognise the debt they owe to supporters, especially the 6,500 odd who will have paid to be there.
So who are those players then?
I think one of them is Richarlison. The Brazilian has had a really poor season overall punctuated with a dreadful sending off against Liverpool in October and then a very inconsistent campaign in which his goal tally has hugely dropped off.
We’ve mentioned some of the potential reasons why he might be struggling. In part it is the changes to his position that have perhaps undermined his form. First he was playing wide on the left and while he wasn’t as involved in front of goal as he had been last season, he was able to be a bit more creative.
But then Ancelotti after apparently talking to him about his role switched him to a more central position but Richarlison still couldn’t find his shooting boots ultimately despite a short burst of goals after the change.
Despite the switch back to something more akin to how he played last season he hasn’t been able to replicate last season’s form.
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Another player who I would imagine is in Ancelotti’s sights is Mason Holgate.
The defender has had a horrendous time in the last few weeks making a dreadful mistake that Villa striker Ollie Watkins took full advantage of and then made a similar error on Sunday, which fortunately Jordan Pickford prevented from being a goal.
Holgate’s collapse in form and confidence has been marked recently but he has had a poor season generally. In fact his best form was when he played in the four centre-back formation that Ancelotti adopted in December.
Since then he has had a tough time finding any consistent form and seems to be going backwards in terms of his performances.
In particular he seems to be subject to making all sorts of basic mental errors of the kind that a teenager might be guilty of. These should have been ironed out of his game by now.
For me there are a few others who should be included such as Alex Iwobi, Andre Gomes, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bernard. None of these players have done anything of substance lately and have lacked energy, commitment and willingness to fight for the shirt. Given recent showings I think if a buyer can be found for them they should be moving on this summer.