Dave Vitty has been speaking on the All Together Now podcast about how he believes Mason Holgate could improve Everton’s defence under Frank Lampard.
Holgate was certainly not a regular starter for Everton under their former manager, however, since Lampard has taken over, he’s been an ever-present, although it’s still not been all great, with the centre back scoring an own goal during their only defeat post-Rafael Benitez.
Will Lampard bring success to Everton?
Yes!
No!
Everton have the seventh-worst defence in the Premier League, but it’s not very surprising to see that Holgate has not featured that much given he’s only won nine tackles in the Premier League across his 11 appearances – but now with Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina both injured, Vitty believes that Holgate could well be a solution to Everton’s defensive woes.
Vitty is confident that Holgate could improve Everton’s defence if coached properly.
He said: “I just wonder whether, on the basis that a new management team coming in has obviously given everybody a clean slate and a fresh start – and obviously, there’s no hangovers from any previous regimes – is that watching Holgate play on Saturday under Lampard, I just thought, do you know what, if we could make him into the player that he potentially is, he might be the solution for that centre-half position.”
TIF Thoughts on Mason Holgate…
Before Lampard arrived at Everton, there were reports of Holgate potentially leaving the Toffees, with fellow relegation rivals Burnley showing an interest in him. However, that clearly didn’t materialise, which could be of huge relief for Lampard and the club given their current limited options at the heart of the defence.
Last week saw Everton pick up their first league win under Lampard, but it was also their first clean sheet in the Premier League since 7th November and Holgate was a key figure in the side, having played the full 90 minutes and registering a 7.43 WhoScored rating, so perhaps Vitty is on to something in seeing the 25-year-old as a long-term option at centre-back.
In other news: ‘Gone on to another level’ – Greg O’Keeffe excited as ‘fantastic’ talent emerges at Everton