A considerable positive about this game is that it’s one game closer to the end of the season and the departure of Sam Allardyce.
That’s about it really. It’s Roy Hodgson versus Bombastic Samuel in a cold February at Goodison. There are very, very few things to look forward to in this one besides the full time whistle and the ensuing sausage dinner or Chinese. It’s going to be another dire game in which we’ll probably see glimpses of Walcott and his ever-lit spark of creativity, and with any luck, we’ll see some players who haven’t been in and around the first team as of late.
Of course that would be the sensible plan, seeing as the so-called ‘first team’ is the most disappointing Everton side in the Premier League era.
Anyway, I want to see a lot of rotation as, even according to Samuel, the season is a ‘write-off’ now, so there’s absolutely no point in carrying on with broken players, is there?
GK - Jordan Pickford
Mind you, don’t want any rotation here.
RB - Séamus Coleman
He’s fit again, there’s not much doubt, so he plays.
Not that hard.
CB - Ramiro Funes Mori
Another who made his comeback recently was Ramiro Funes Mori, and he operates in the area that we are beyond tragic in, that being the general area of football.
But seriously, he was a very good centre-back before his injury and the team as a whole has regressed massively, and he finds himself at the top of the pecking order at the back until I see something to prove otherwise.
He walks into this team.
CB - Mason Holgate
And our second best centre-back starts alongside our best.
Shock.
LB - Jonjoe Kenny
Jonjoe Kenny at left-back has more redeeming qualities than just not being Cuco Martina at left-back.
He was largely exceptional when deputising for Coleman in his absence and I’d hope there’d be a way to fit them both in the same team.
Got nothing to lose trying it now.
CM - Tom Davies
We need a balanced midfield three, and as much as I do love Davy Klaassen and think that he should be a first team regular, Davies has merited the spot this week after the Arsenal performance.
CM - Idrissa Gana Gueye
Gueye plays. Schneiderlin doesn’t.
Water is wet.
Moving on.
CM - Wayne Rooney
Rooney hasn’t really had a drop-off as the rest of the team has this season, and his consistency in creating chances is one of the only reasons why we’re fighting relegation from 9th and not 19th.
And with Sigurdsson being unbelievably hot and cold, his consistency has been very welcome
LW - Nikola Vlašić
And because of Sigurdsson’s consistent inconsistency, Vlašić gets a rare start.
He hasn’t shown what he can do since the creativity choker Sam Allardyce arrived, but now that the season is officially over as Mr. Allardyce has declared, it’s time to develop his talent and not let him go the way of Lookman.
RW - Theo Walcott
As a collective fanbase, everyone was extremely embarrassed for Theo Walcott last weekend against Arsenal, as he stormed around the pitch giving 110% while he also carried a team who were more than content to stroll around and let four goals pass them by without a second thought.
He has been excellent since he came in and so far, seems like more than we deserve, both on the field and off.
ST - Cenk Tosun
Now is the time to start bedding players into the first team, and although I feel that Tosun’s teething problems are being vastly over-exaggerated, he does need time to settle in to the club.
A few goals would help him no end, and it would also help us, so let’s throw him in.