Leon Osman slammed Idrissa Gueye for his ‘really, really poor’ defending during Everton’s 4-0 thrashing of Arsenal on Wednesday night at the Emirates.
Before the game, Sean Dyche decided to change his centre-backs, with Michael Keane coming into the action for Conor Coady and Osman stated that he was ‘very surprised’ by that call.
That decision was most likely made because of Coady’s soft defending during Everton’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday when he allowed Emiliano Buendia to slip past him and score his side’s second.
Well, despite that change at the back, Dyche watched his side produce yet more abject defending.
Summer signing Gueye, who gave away a penalty against Villa over the weekend, was caught in possession on the edge of his own area at 1-0, with Bukayo Saka dispossessing the midfielder before Gabriel Martinelli doubled Arsenal’s lead.
Whilst Everton have major problems up front, they are probably even worse at the back, with Osman sharing his thoughts, as he told Premier League Productions (01/03/23 at 8:45 pm).
“It was a tight call, but having just conceded, they say it’s the worst time and you are most vulnerable,” said Osman.
“Everton have worked hard for so long to get into this position, to then be caught in possession off the ball from Idrissa Gueye here is really, really poor. Brilliant from Arsenal for not letting him have a moment.”
On Keane’s selection for Coady: “Yes, (it has surprised me). I thought Everton had a pretty settled team, certainly the back four under Sean Dyche. Struggling to make changes at the top of the field, but having options at the back.
“For a player to come in, who hasn’t played in so long, despite knowing him from his time at Burnley. Very surprised.”
GUEYE NEEDS DROPPING
From that horror back pass against Brighton under Frank Lampard, the penalty against Villa and now his error at the Emirates, it’s high time Dyche dropped the £80k-a-week star (Spotrac).
The issue here is that the 33-year-old is the experienced one, but his second stint on Merseyside is proving to be a disaster.
Gueye has suffered relegation before, his first season in the Premier League with Villa, and his first season back might just result in him going down a similar but unwanted road.
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