Everton will still be feeling the hurt of the late defeat to fierce rivals Liverpool.
Everton fans felt David Moyes got his substitutions wrong in the Merseyside derby, with Beto coming off for Thierno Barry.
There were also some errors in key moments which ultimately cost the Toffees a crucial point, or even win, heading into the final stages of the season.
Does this Everton fan have a point about Moyes? 😮
One of those being Iliman Ndiaye’s disallowed goal, as Jake O’Brien had no reason to be offside in the build-up, according to former midfielder Leon Osman.
Leon Osman was furious at Jake O’Brien during Everton vs Liverpool
Speaking on the Outside The Box Pod YouTube channel, Osman admitted he was screaming at O’Brien to stay onside before he slid the cross in for Ndiaye to score what he believed was the opening goal.
“Jake O’Brien was right in front of me and Liverpool pushed up so quickly,” the 44-year-old explained.
“If you watch it back, he’s just sort of thinks he’s got all the time in the world to get into place and I was shouting ‘Jake get onside! Jake get onside!’
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“And the frustration of seeing it. So as that ball went across and what came after I didn’t celebrate, I was right in line. I knew. I knew he was offside.”
These are the decisive moments that perhaps a more attack-minded right-back wouldn’t get wrong, so it’s clear where Everton need to strengthen in the summer.
Moyes has been showing an interest in Zakaria El Ouahdi, who is a very front-footed full-back for Belgium giants Genk.
El Ouahdi has registered a mind-boggling 17 goal involvements from right-back this season, so he’d certainly be a big upgrade on O’Brien from an attacking sense.
Finding that balance between a good attacking right-back and a solid defensive one is tough to bridge sometimes.
That’ll be the challenge Everton face this summer.
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