Duncan Ferguson shares trick he told Everton’s Mason Holgate to do

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Everton managed to pick up a 1-1 draw with Manchester United yesterday.

Everton boss Duncan Ferguson has suggested to the Telegraph that he tried to trick Manchester United by telling Mason Holgate to slot in at centre-back briefly to start the game.

Everton did utilise a 4-4-2 formation at Old Trafford, but Ferguson tried to disrupt United’s plans by initially setting up in a 5-3-2 shape.

Holgate was told to station himself at centre-back to start the game, before moving into his holding midfield role.

And Ferguson admits that he was trying to pull off a trick move to fool United.

“I told Mason to do that. Everyone was telling me to play five at the back anyway, so I told him to sit there and pretend we’re playing five at the back. I was messing with people to be honest,” Ferguson said.

“I love a 4-4-2, I think the two strikers cause teams problems, it was working quite well. You are always going to get an overload in midfield and they were trying to pick our pockets in there, so we tried to change the shape in the last 15 minutes. Maybe I should have changed it a bit quicker. In my mind it worked well.”

Holgate actually may have been more comfortable if he had stayed at centre-back for Everton, but he performed brilliantly in a midfield role.

The youngster has proven his versatility before, and his latest performance showed another string to his bow.

Holgate’s ability to play in central midfield was a major boost for Everton, as they are so short in numbers there right now.

The Toffees are suffering badly with injury, and Holgate could be tasked with playing in midfield more regularly over the coming weeks, as they look to get players off the treatment table.