Luke Garbutt was left out of Everton’s Premier and Europa League squads – leaving Leighton Baines as The Toffees’ only senior left-back.
It’s a measure of how far Luke Garbutt has fallen since Ronald Koeman took charge of Everton that the left-back was not even included in The Toffees’ 25-man Premier League squad for the first-half of the season.
The 24-year-old was also a notable omission form Everton’s Europa League squad. Though Garbutt’s impressive performances in David Unsworth’s reserve side, coupled with a lack of depth at left-back, should have Toffees fans questioning the wisdom of freezing out the talented defender.
Leighton Baines (below) has started 10 of Everton’s 11 domestic and European fixtures so far this season. With long-serving understudy Bryan Oviedo joining Sunderland permanently in the summer, however, there is a real lack of quality options in reserve.
Though Garbutt’s form with Everton’s Under-23s suggests he could have come in handy.
‘Absolutely terrific’
“Luke was absolutely terrific,” Unsworth told the Liverpool Echo after Garbutt, who was blocked from leaving Merseyside on loan in the summer, created both goals in a 2-1 win over Portsmouth last week. “That was Luke back to somewhere like his best – showing his energy up and down the left.
“And he defended well. We have done a lot of work with Luke defensively – we all know his left foot is quality in the right areas but we have done a lot of defensive and fitness work with him.”
This is not the first time Koeman has left a potentially handy player out of his plans. Oumar Niasse was frozen out entirely last season but proved a point to the under-fire gaffer when scoring twice off the bench to inspire a comeback win against Bournemouth last month.
Time will tell whether Koeman will hand Garbutt a similar reprieve. For now, the Dutchman will be praying Baines’ 32-year-old limbs don’t fail him.
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