Everton 2020-21 season player review

With the 2020-21 Premier League season already almost a week old, let’s look at the main individual Everton player reviews.

Jordan Pickford – 8/10

This is a surprise rating (including to me!) but it’s heavily influenced by the outstanding form shown by the Everton and England number one in some excellent performances during the season run-in when he was particularly good and saved a slew of potential goals against.

After another slightly inconsistent and uncertain start to the season, Pickford occasionally rotated with deadline day signing Robin Olsen and the questions about his future hadn’t totally gone away, although he was playing better than recent past seasons.

But the influence of Olsen pushing him and his apparent work with a sports psychologist has massively improved his concentration and consistency and we saw the results during the final third of the season. Now the challenge is to carry this on into the Euros and more importantly for the Toffees next season.

Yerry Mina – 7/10

Mina has had another injury-hit campaign and this has once more meant his influence hasn’t been as consistently important as it otherwise would be.

When Mina did play he was largly very good, a solid defender who while again not the quickest is at his best a really strong and dominant centre-back.

Earlier in the season Carlo Ancelotti urged him to be more determined and aggresive and use his natual physical gifts, his height and strength, much more effectively and he seemed to take these words to heart producing some towering performances at times this season.

The question is can Everton depend on a player who is so injury-prone? It does seem as though Ancelotti is considering going into this summer’s transfer market to buy another central defender so maybe the answer from the manager is not.

There have also been rumours he might be leaving perhaps to help fund a move for someone like Khalidou Koulibaly so I guess we will see if he stays this summer.

Michael Keane – 5/10

The former Burnley man has had an inconsistent and ultimately disappointing year and this is reflected in his bang average rating.

It feels like Keane has had a year in which he’s taken a step back after being arguably the Blues most consistent defender last season.

Once more his lack of pace and inability to defend against very quick forwards with great movement was exposed. This was especially the case when he played in a back three where he looks very uncomfortable. Why Ancelotti kept playing him in a three was a bit of mystery as he’s struggled badly there before notably on the rare occasions Marco Silva tried it.

When he played in the four man centre-back defence he was at his best as he had the pace of Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate outside him.

If he’s still an Everton player next season I can’t see him starting regularly particularly if a defender like Koulibably has arrived.

Mason Holgate – 4/10

Giving Holgate four out of ten might seem a little generous given his atrocious displays in the latter part of the season, but he was pretty solid when he played in that four man defence alongside Mina, Keane and Godfrey so I see that as mitigating circumstances.

Still he has endured a poor season and like Keane appears to be going backwards. Holgate has the physical tools with pace and strength but seems to lack the nous and concetration to be a Premier League defender. He’s another who’s future is uncertain and needs a massive improvement next term if he’s still at Goodison Park.

Ben Godfrey – 8/10

In contrast Godfrey has been a real find this season and was arguably the Toffees player of the season, at least until the final few weeks when his form dropped off.

The summer signing from Norwich City was considered a little raw still and at first it seemed as though he would be a fringe player for the season. He did feature a few times early on filling in for Seamus Coleman but his performances were mixed.

Then Lucas Digne went down with a serious injury and Ancelotti was forced to reshuffle his defence as he’d lost both his full-backs.

At the beginning of December with Everton in poor form and the team leaking goals, the manager unveiled that four centre-back defence with Godfrey taking Digne’s place at left-back. It worked and the Toffees went on an excellent run winning four straight Premier League matches and only conceding a solitary goal.

The young defender was a revelation as a makeshift full-back with his pace, man-marking skills and physical presence a real boost to the Blues backline.

When he moved back to his more usual position inside he was still consistently excellent and that speed and power together with a willingness to bring the ball out of defence – something none of the other Everton defenders ever seem really comfortable doing – represented a new dimension to the team’s play.

It seems he has already become a key figure in the team now and it will be interesting to see where he plays next season and whether he will suffer a ‘second season syndrome’.

Seamus Coleman – 7/10

When the Irishman was good he was very good but when he was bad he was pretty awful. I think that sums up Coleman’s 2020-21 campaign well.

The 32-year-old club captain started the season in superb form and that is largly why he gets a seven. In the first month or so it looked like the old Coleman was back his verve, energy and attacking flair were on display and he thrived as the new-look Everton side began with seven straight wins.

Then of course came the injuries, which have plagued him for so long now and his form never really recovered, as indeed was the case for several others. And with these fitness problems and his age again underlying how the club have failed to plan effectively for his successor.

Although Coleman is a popular player with fans due to his commitment and passion, it’s clear his best days are behind him and the Blues must invest in a new right-back this summer.

Lucas Digne – 7/10

Digne has had a funny season and while he’s been very solid and consistent overall he’s slightly gone under the radar at times with some very quiet and almost annonymous performances.

At the start of the campaign he was very influential and created a hatful of chances as the team’s attack began on fire. The suprising but ultimately temporary emergence of Niels Nkounkou also perhaps gave him a little push too. But in the second half the season he was less effective and the earlier assists dried up.

During the season the French international was awarded a new contract and I feel that perhaps he sometimes tends to coast a bit knowing there is little competition and no one apart from James Rodriguez who can supply the creativity he offers.

Digne is onw of the team’s veterans and having got himself a new deal it’s time to step up and produce his best form, which we know is very good, next season.