Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has come under fire after his tactical decisions were blamed for Yerry Mina’s poor form with Colombia.
The defender was said to have ‘collapsed mentally’ after the deleterious effects of falling out of favour with Ancelotti took hold amid being dropped for the Toffees’ recent defeat to Manchester United.
Colombian sports journalist Marco Clara has penned several articles discussing the poor form of Mina and clubmate James Rodriguez, with one such article being entitled ‘James and Mina have it difficult with Yepes’ and Falcao’s shadow’.
The article shouldered the blame on the two Everton players for their poor international form as Colombia suffered a 3-0 thrashing by Uruguay in World Cup qualifying.
The Marca article said, in quotes translated via SportWitness: ‘Of the entire current generation, two figures stand out who must assume that role because of their cache in international football: James and Mina. The two failed yesterday with their mistakes.’
Another journalist, Carlos Gonzalez, levels the blame more directly at Ancelotti for dropping Mina and, by extension, casting doubt in the player’s mind over his own abilities, saying:
I believe that Yerry’s performance against Uruguay is no coincidence and there’s another culprit.
Yes, for me Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to point him out against Manchester United was wrong.
The Italian coach left him on the bench for no apparent physical reason and we all know the Colombian defender, who tends to collapse mentally when he doesn’t feel the coach’s support.
Logically, the person most responsible for his mistakes is Mina himself, who was not up to the task, but Ancelotti, far from helping him regain confidence, I think that with that substitution he’s generated many doubts, returning to situations of the past that were a weight for the Colombian.
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Mina certainly didn’t excel against Uruguay – he was sent off at the denouement of the game, having already conceded three goals.
However, it is hard to attribute flaws in individual performances to Ancelotti alone. The Everton manager cannot be solely held responsible and has been unfairly singled out for criticism.
It is not his responsibility to play Mina simply to preserve his morale and confidence, but to pick the team that he feels is best served to get results for the Toffees.
