I can’t believe we’re going over this again. Having better quality options on the bench would be a benefit for the manager and give him more options, that is just logical for any manager. Therefore injuries to players that may not be in the first 11 but are on the bench do absolutely make a difference. We had two fit central midfielders v West Ham and instead of being able to rotate on Garner or Iroegbunam we had to keep Mangala and Gueye going all game whilst West Ham were able to freshen up.
Garner Branthwaite Coleman all play in Dyche’s first choice 11 when fit. One is also our best player. The other in a lot of people’s view, aside from your own, is our best midfielder. The third is our captain and first choice right back. Take those profile of players out of any other bottom half club for a significant period of time and see what happens. Crystal Palace have fallen apart defensively and their fans blame Andersen going to Fulham and not being properly replaced. I wouldn’t have him near Branthwaite in terms of ability but his unavailability is defining their whole season.
There’s enough genuine issues at Everton without you trying to pedal that injuries won’t have an effect on our points total.
