Lampard says Mina will miss most of the remaining games

But Jesus the optics are shit. Until proven otherwise, it looked to me like he was crying off.

Gut it up please Yerry.

I think Mina is a very, very good defender. We are definably better with him in the lineup. But we need to try to trade him in the summer. When you have a player who is injury prone / constantly injured, they're not worth paying. The unreliability of their health equates to a poor return on investment. Surely there's another CB out there who will stay healthy and can play every week, creating continuity in the lineup and squad?

Sorry Yeri, you seem like a good fella. But I won't cry a tear when you're missing or gone, I'm just too used to it.

Of course that is not very helpful when he is missing for 2/3 of the season and insists on playing for Colombia.

Time to cash in before the end of his contract I am afraid.

Also, has anyone heard why Branthwaite was not even on the bench on Sunday???

I agree with #3 Alan there are others that need shipping out irrespective of remaining in the Premier League. I hope Lampard realises this, and doesn't keep faith with some of them remaining at the club, even if they do keep us up.

But my god - I have never come across a player who is so fragile and gets injured so regularly! Either he is made of glass or the medical department are not fixing whatever is up with him properly. I also find it suspicious he always seems able to play for his country with no issues most of the time. We need to get decent money for him in summer and sign a replacement who is at least as good & can stay fit

And Colombia likely would not have missed out on the World Cup. Mina played only 4 of their 13 qualifiers. (Paul #6 please note.)

Only 27 years old and can't stay on the pitch. It's not a good sign.

If an acceptable offer comes in he will surely go in the summer. Finding a “reliable Yerry” in the summer will be a big priority for Frank. If he does find the right man it will be one of the signings that will have us fighting at the other end of the table next May.

For me, our best centre-back pairing is Michael Keane playing on the right with young Branthwaite on the left. But for some reason, Frank has been reluctant to pick Branthwaite.

Keane for Pukki for me would be a good deal. Pukki has always seemed decent in a poor side and, as a back-up striker, he could do well here.

He'd been touted for a move to Europe but it was surprising he joined Barca. He looked the sort of player who moves to a weaker side like Lyon or Porto. He was never going to be first choice at Barca.

He joined us in the summer 2018 window after looking good in the World Cup rather than anything he showed for Barca. They sold him the first window after they bought him. It was a great bit of business for them financially. Nothing to do with his form or fitness.

The season before that, 33 appearances, missed only two games the first six months, and then the thigh injury.

If we could count on that much, I'd be all in with keeping him. But 14 appearances this year doesn't cut it.

However, he's just not on the pitch often enough, very unusual for a big defender to get injured so often - usually has to be serious to force them to the sidelines.

No point being a great worker if you're not in work!

His contract situation and fitness means no-one will pay more than that.

Another realistic (but worse) option is something like a £7m loan deal where the buyer pays his wages then picks him up for free at the end of next season.

As you say, if that's all we get it might be better to keep him even if he then leaves for free.

In 4 seasons he has started 69 games from 150 and the constant injuries means that we have never had a consistent pairing building up an understanding. The most number of games he has played on the run has been 10. He is an injury waiting to happen. And on the back of a 3 goals at WC2018 (a record for a defender) then 5 over 3 seasons (none in this) then the hope of a goal scoring goliath at corners has also proved to be false.

When you hear that Mick Lyons family have gone public about his dementia in his early 70s, then in terms of bravery the two stand no comparison

Unfortunately he's just too injury prone and can't be relied on. We should take whatever cash we can get along with Keane and get two new centre backs to go alongside Holgate and Branthwaite

For example, if taking a bit of a hit on Mina gives us the money to buy say, Conor Coady (who seems to be a popular choice amongst fans) then it might be worth it.

For those hoping to offload both Keane and Holgate, you'd have to ask who would buy them. There's a very good chance both will be at the club next season but Mina will not.

Top 10 PL centre halves

10. Heitinga
9. Lescott
8. Stubbs
7.Yobo
6.Weir
5. Stones
4. Gough
3. Distin
2 Watson
1. Jagielka

Phil, for me if he plays two-thirds of our games as he did the two previous seasons, he's worth it. This year he certainly didn't, and he certainly wasn't.

For me Lescott is much higher on that list. Right up near the top.

If the reports are true, Moyes wants Keane. Can't see it myself but, for all his limitations, it can never be said he couldn't spot a decent centre-half.

No they are the official Premier League rankings based on some guy called Graham Mockford... 😂

You could have a point on Lescott, it's all subjective of course.

As for Mina, I panic watching him just as much as I panic watching Keane. Not much between them, as far as I can see and neither of them had the courage or fight to the death of Mick Lyons...

Mind you, Mick was one of us and really loved the club as much as any supporter and a real beaut of a man as well.

I suppose Moyes might be thinking of reuniting him with Zouma – which is probably our best centre-back pairing of recent years.

Let's just hope we can get some more games out of him next season because the only way Mina leaves us is for free at the end of his deal in 2023.

And don't expect us to be signing any replacements with our need to start balancing the books and four other senior centre-halves under contract till 2025.

On another note, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see Van de Beek again this season. It's amazing how quickly that loan move went from a total coup to largely pointless.

Big influence when he is on the pitch and certainly our best centre half, doubt we will ever get a long run of games from him though, such a shame.

But… I'd sell him tomorrow if the right offer came along. We need a consistent centre-half pairing and he won't ever be able to be part of that.

What makes it so frustrating is that they are all good players. I wonder if there are certain “body types” that require different stretching and strengthening exercises than others. Put another way should all players be subjected to the same training routines? Does one size fit all.

If someone could come up with a system that keeps these players free from these muscle injuries it would save us a fortune.

For example stretching the calf muscles - think about how you would expect most trainers to stretch them them.

Form an opinion then have a look at this video:-

Link

If Everton move to that calf muscle routine, we're definitely getting relegated!

I do think some players are just prone to injury. It happens to certain people.

Gibbo was exceedingly frustrating! He was a very good player in my opinion, but constantly injured. His range of passing was sick.

Personally, my third son was by far my most talented soccer player. He simply drew the short straw, and continually had knee problems (meniscus) throughout his playing days. A superb young player, his knee would re-injure after kid-glove care within a few games. It just happens to some folks.

On a professional level, once you've identified an injury-prone player, you have to offload him if you can. There's a lot of money and there's finite resources. You have to maximize your dollars. Ergo, I'm afraid from a business perspective Yerry isn't a good investment frankly.

Moshe had a black belt in judo but wrecked his knees. After searching for a solution via many physicicians he started doing his own research and as a result developed his own exercise system. He was not only able to significantly improve his own situation but went on to help many others.

One comment from his book has stuck with me over many years. It went along the lines that conventional stretching can create minute tears in muscles. As they heal they shrink the fibres which exacerbates the problem. He suggests, because muscles work in pairs of opposites, that one should focus on contracting the opposite muscle to the one causing problems.

The book is well worth a read if you are interested in that sort of thing.

As an aside, one thing that concerns me is that both Richarlison and Mykolenko have recently come off early with what turned out to be cramp in their calf muscles.

I suspect a bit of mind games from Watford. I've read on some of their sites that Sarr, King, Dennis and Pedro are all out tonight with illness and injury. I fully suspect this to be nonsense and find them all either starting or on the bench. Roy will want to beat us considering his old Liverpool connection and our defenders need to be lulled into maybe playing ‘kids' due to these ‘missing players'.

Anyway, keep Mina. Offer him a new contract and explain he's wanted here but on lower money due to the time out with injury. If he rejects, tell him he will unfortunately have to be sold. Everton will continue without him. James Tarkowski would be a suitable replacement, although I would love Everton to go all out and get Tomori from Milan or Coady from Wolves, who has always struck me as their Jags.

It's no good going onto a football pitch worrying about your weaknesses, because this will only impede your strengths, and this is how I often view Michael Keane, but he was different on Sunday imo. He came on the pitch looking like he really wanted to be there, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come, because a little switch of the trigger can often make all the difference?

It's good to see him looking confident again. The same is probably true of Holgate.

In fact I'm interested to know what you make of Holgate's recent performances.

Whatever the case, improved form and confidence is down to good man management and more generally lifting the club off the floor by Lampard.

Iwobi has benefited too. It's a shame Davies hasn't been part of this as he's also someone who lost his way.

He's made plenty of mistakes, but then who knows how many Mina would make if he ever played in a run of games? Certainly we've never really got to find out – and I doubt we ever will.

Right now, Keane's going to be asked to defend. That will suit him just fine. Same as it's suiting Pickford.

Ask them to do more on the ball and start possession and you'll get a different story.

Football is about getting players to do what they're good at. Which is why some of the managerial decisions in our recent history have amazed me.

To my eyes and in the statistics he's comfortably our most effective centre back; with our win percentages with significantly superior to that without him. He's by no mean perfect but he's a very good CB and he is a natural leader, of which we have few.

His long absences this season is probably one of the main reasons we are where we are. If he could be expected to play even 75% of our games i'd offer him a new contract without hesitation. But this season he's only managed 900 minutes or so and we can't pay £120k every week for that.

Keane is excellent on a good day and horrendous on a bad one. He seems a confidence player which is not what you want from an experienced CB really. He will usually do well in a low block but if Lampard ever wants to progress to a higher line and more posession then Keane is not the man for that. I suspect he'll stick around and continue to be an up and down player but if someone did offer us £15m for him then i'd take it.

Godfrey has been a disappointment. The attitude and athleticism is there but he doesn't seem to read the game very well and that is hard to teach. Perhaps he will get better or perhaps he will continue to be more effective as a defensive full back. I admire his drive but rather we had got Gabriel or even Salisu (only £10m!) instead; not convinced he will ever make a top class CB but really hope he proves me wrong.

Holgate is fine, we've seen a fair amount of him and he is like Godfrey in some regards. A decent athlete and competitive player who struggles sometimes with positioning and decision making. He didn't cost much and his wages aren't high so he remains an effective sqwuad player unless we get a good bid for him.

Branthwaite I really like. Fast and tall with a cultured left foot. Not sure whether he is likely to be first choice next season or if he would benefit more by a season as first choice CB in the championship. Think this lad might go all the way but he needs to start playing first team football much more regularly.

Then there is Reece Welch and maybe the likes of Astley, Eli Campbell etc who would probably need a loan to see how they cope with first team football.

It's not a great selection. With no effective partnership established. If fit then Mina's leadership immediately helps whichever pair he is in. If he is sold then ideally we need to bring in a similar player. Perhaps Tarkowski though he will have a few suitors and big wages. I'd also prefer someone a touch more mobile as I suspect Lampard (if he stays) will want to try playing a slightly higher line at some point.

As ever, lots of problems to solve this summer.

Pat, I'd probably buy a Bosch one, never trusted Columbian washing machines.

Holgate is fine, we've seen a fair amount of him and he is like Godfrey in some regards. A decent athlete and competitive player who struggles sometimes with positioning and decision making.

I couldn't disagree more, Sam. And I say this lightly, and you can take it for what it's worth, because we both know you know more about the game than I do.

But.

Holgate just isn't a good footballer. He's not. In fact, I think he's our single weakest link in the chain. This kid has made more individual mistakes this season than I can count on both hands. His attitude just rubs me the wrong way as well. You can be a hard player - hell I love hard players. But strutting around the pitch like the gum-chewing compensation peacock isn't a good optic.

I'd get rid of Holgate in an instant. I'd also regretfully offload Mina. I'd keep Keane, Godfrey, and Branthwaite as CBs with an eye to buy another over the summer - cheaply and with potential and let Frank build the player.

And that has to be our recruiting philosophy for the next 4-5 years! We simply have to get our financial house in order - it's a fucking mess. We have a coach who can absolutely work with younger players - ask Mason Mount. Bring in the potential diamonds for cheap and allow Frank to grow the players, come what may. We might finish 15th for 3 seasons in a row (we won't, worse case scenario), but it will improve our future drastically when those new recruits come of age. And quite honestly, what's the harm? We're not winning the league with the likes of Man City spending a ludicrous amount on recruitment and basically buying the league! We're forced into a new way of recruiting due to our finances, but it's time to make lemonade out of lemons and go full on Moneyball Metrics.

All of this assuming we stay up, so let's beat Watford today please!

HOWEVER... and it's a big, temporary however... he has shown well in recent weeks as Frank has stripped his responsibilities down to "just defend" and that's it. He's clearing the ball with his first touch, be it foot or head, and he's holding his position unusually well. That's gotta be Frank. And because simplifying his game has eliminated the mistakes, I no longer instantly spew obscenities the minute I see Holgate's name on the team sheet. That sure was a big goal on Sunday.

That said.... for all his physical abilities I will celebrate like hell when we sell him.

I agree he's been better since Burnley - ya know, the game he kind of fucked up for us?

What's that saying? One swallow a summer doesn't make, or some such thing?

Look, I'm behind the kid, Lord knows, presently. We need every single player pulling in the same direction.

But were it me, I'm ten times more comfortable with Keane, and I can't believe based upon what I've seen, that Branthwaite would be any worse over a consistent run of games. Ergo, we need to simply move Holgate on.

The "who will buy him" argument is valid. And as Jim Lloyd points out, it'll probably depend upon who leaves and who goes.

Clubs will splash a ridiculous amount of cash buying new players. I've never understood why they don't occasionally sell players on and take a hit on buying out the wages? I mean, if you can spend (hypothetically) 3 million on buying out the wages of the player and moving him on for a pittance to free up a younger player to have a more prominent role, AND buy an up and coming player with potential, isn't that a good way to move forward some of the time?

Or do we just keep the player, then spunk 25 million on some new dude - which clearly isn't working.

Just sell some guys and move on. The squad's too damn big still, and surely there's some younger players with potential Frank would improve into good Premier League players?

Jay - I agree wholeheartedly with you @57.

“Roy will want to beat us because of his old Liverpool connection.” Roy will want to beat us because he's a professional but the Liverpool connection? I'm wondering would Mike Walker or Sam Allardyce especially want to beat Liverpool because of the old Everton connection. After the joy of getting the job Roy's Liverpool spell was probably the low point of his career

I think Holgate would be an eminently sellable asset. He's only 25, one of the fastest center-backs in the Premier League, makes showy tackles, and he's under contract for three more years at only £25k/week.

Somebody will want to take a chance on him -- maybe one of the relegated clubs needing a cheaper alternative at center-back, or maybe a Championship manager who thinks he can turn Holgate into a player.

Transfermarkt values him at $20 million. If we can get anywhere near that, it would be a helluva deal... and just getting rid of his blunders would be lagniappe.

We'll see what Frank and Kevin decide.

I think he probably is a weak link and I wouldn't be thrilled at the idea of him being first choice for us. But as a backup, who can play a few different positions arguably, and who is one of our lowest first team earners I think he has his uses. We've got to start running better financially and one of the ways we do that is having decent back up on low wages who are always fit and can do a reasonable job when called upon. I think Holgate fulfills that remit.

Having said that if Brighton or some such wanted to offer us around £15m for him I wouldn't say no. But given there might be a lot of player turnaround this summer I wonder if he might be one who is kept for the sake of continuity?

I would invest the money in Joe Worrell, currently at Nottingham Forest, good old proper tough centre half and at 25 years old, plenty of years ahead of him.

Pretty sure we had a sniff at him a few years back.

He's a great character and good to have in the team but what's the point when the manager can't get a run of games out of him. He's averaged playing half a season since he joined. Just too little for the £25m we paid for him and he's on £120k/week.

Our injury prone player's need moving on. The poor senior players need to go. The recruitment has to improve.

Our injuries this season really have been catastrophic, with comfortably the worst injury rate in the league. Bad luck or bad player management?