Koeman must swing axe and drop senior Everton trio for clash v Manchester United
COMMENT By Abigail Withey
Everton were left red-faced on Thursday after their embarrassing performance against Serie A side Atalanta in their Europa League group opener.
The Toffees suffered a 3-0 defeat, with all the goals hitting the back of the net within the first half.
Ronald Koeman must axe a number players from his squad which started against the Italian club to ensure the Blues are ready to face Manchester United on Sunday.
The Merseyside club will travel to Old Trafford with the hope of ending their series of defeats after losing to Chelsea and Tottenham over previous weekends.
Football Insider has named three players which Koeman must leave out of his squad on Sunday:
Maarten Stekelenburg
Choosing the 34-year-old over Jordan Pickford was a huge mistake by Koeman on Thursday evening.
The summer signing is 10 years Stekelenburg’s junior and has the fitness levels to be able to feature in both the Europa League and Premier League matches this week, so why he sidelined him is questionable.
The Dutch keeper had a rare chance to impress on Thursday but must be ditched from the squad this weekend as Pickford is without a doubt a better choice to face Jose Mourinho’s side.
Phil Jagielka
Although he’s a great leader, the Toffees’ skipper looked slow during the clash against Atalanta.
If anything, Koeman should’ve rested the captain for Sunday’s Premier League showdown but after his rusty performance it’s best for the boss to axe him altogether.
Leighton Baines can take the captain’s armband and Ashley Williams will be an appropriate replacement for the 35-year-old.
On Sunday, Koeman will need someone with better fitness levels than Jagielka to face the likes of former Toffees top scorer Romelu Lukaku.
Mo Besic
Besic is the third player the Blues boss should axe for their upcoming United clash as he simply didn’t prove himself against the Serie A side.
The 25-year-old suffered under tough and powerful opponents and appeared somewhat lazy after failing to complete simple tracking of the opposition.
Idrissa Gueye was sidelined during the week, so it would prove sensible to start him instead of Besic in order to give his side the best possible chance against the current top flight leaders.
In other Everton news, fans have expressed their frustrations on Twitter after the Toffees displayed a disappointing performance in their Europa League opener.
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