Everton lost 1-0 to Bournemouth at Dean Court yesterday.
Ronald Koeman has defended his decision to take Gareth Barry off during Everton’s match against Bournemouth in the Liverpool Echo.
Barry was replaced by Tom Cleverley during Everton’s 1-0 loss to the Cherries after 55 minutes of the match had been played.
And Koeman says that the switch was pre-planned, as Barry had not trained with the squad in the build up to the contest.
“He did not train yesterday and was doubtful for today. I was very happy with what Tom Cleverley showed on Tuesday. He’s really the player that I tried to bring into that time of the game,” Koeman said.
“If you know Barry the fact he didn’t train explains why we had to make the change.”
Cleverley dropped completely out of Everton’s match day squad earlier in the season, but the former Manchester United man appears to have worked his way back into contention now.
Cleverley has some doubters to win over at Goodison Park, after failing to nail down a place in their side since moving from Manchester United.
The England international failed to make the desired impact yesterday, as Everton fell to their first defeat of the season.
The Toffees were short of their best on the south coast, as a Junior Stanislas screamer secured the three points from Eddie Howe’s men.
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