Ashley Young’s pass to Jordan Pickford’s wrong foot was deemed “really poor” by James McFadden.
The former Everton attacker, reacting on BBC Radio 5 Live, highlighted Young’s back pass, which forced Pickford into a difficult situation under pressure from Anthony Gordon.
McFadden pointed out that everyone knows Pickford’s stronger foot is his left, yet Young set him up unnecessarily off his right. Despite the challenge, Pickford cleared the situation, and Everton secured a significant 3-0 win.
“It’s a really poor pass from Ashley Young. He fires it in to Pickford’s right foot. Everyone knows he’s left-footed. He forces him to take a touch and that allows Gordon to put the pressure on,” the BBC pundit said.
Ashley Young’s red card against Liverpool and a fortunate escape from another two games ago in the defeat to Manchester United have made it somewhat surprising that Sean Dyche persisted with him at full back.
There was a touch-and-go moment just before the break when Gordon, facing boos and whistles from home fans throughout the game, came within feet of stealing the ball off his former keeper.
Nevertheless, Everton are now out of the relegation zone, with a five point gap to bottom of the league strugglers Sheffield United. The Toffees host Chelsea at the weekend with Mauricio Pochettino under increasing pressure to find a win from somewhere to save his job.