Mason Holgate had an afternoon to forget after underperforming in back-to-back Everton defeats. The Toffees locked horns with Sevilla and Mainz in Saturday’s Opel Cup tournament and lost both games. Holgate gave away a penalty against Sevilla and made a mistake leading to a goal against Mainz.
With Marco Silva planning to keep the 22-year-old in the first-team this season, some supporters are worried at the prospect of Holgate providing backup for Yerry Mina and Michael Keane at centre-back. He struggled on Saturday and may not be good enough to deputise for the pair in an emergency.
https://twitter.com/DJK1878/status/1155087207574777856?s=20
https://twitter.com/MrJGardner/status/1155124039976914944?s=20
https://twitter.com/hosting_premium/status/1155124295900848129?s=20
Mason Holgate doing everything he can these last 2 games to get sent out on loan again. The lad cant defend
— Andy Baker 🇵🇸 (@andyb4ker) July 27, 2019
Mason Holgate is not having a great afternoon is he??
— Matthew Barry (@EFCMatt1) July 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/NotReallyIrish/status/1155123873526030336?s=20
Since joining Everton from Barnsley in 2015, Holgate has gone on to make 48 appearances in all competitions, creating just one goal. After falling down the pecking order under Silva last season, the England u21 international spent 2018/19 on loan at West Bromwich Albion and restored his reputation.
Everton have failed in their bid to re-sign Kurt Zouma and could be forced to rely upon Holgate & Matthew Pennington to provide cover at centre-back in case of injury. Holgate’s latest showing suggests Silva might need a new first-team defender before the summer transfer window shuts, however.