Ian Snodin - Time for Distin to come in from the cold

Ian Snodin: Time for Sylvain Distin to come in from the cold

Experienced defender still has plenty to offer



He's been out of favour of late, but he’s definitely going to be needed in the coming weeks; it’s time for Sylvain Distin to come in out of the cold at Goodison Park.

I feel for Antolin Alcaraz, because his Everton career has been defined by injuries rather than anything else, but one person’s misfortune is another person’s opportunity, and this is Distin’s chance to re-establish himself as first choice.

He has to come back into the side for the game with Lille on Thursday, and with a tough trip to Sunderland coming up on Sunday, I expect he will stay there too.

It’s clear that he has been struggling this season, and has fallen down the pecking order. I was surprised that he wasn’t even named on the bench for the weekend game with Swansea - and thought Roberto Martinez’s explanation of that was a little bit strange, if I’m honest - but I’m sure he will get the call this week.

Listen, Gareth Barry did a good job in there against Swansea. He had one little moment where he didn’t realise Wayne Routledge was closing in on him, and got the hurry-up from the crowd, but other than that he was faultless.

He’s a good footballer, Barry. He reads situations well, and that compensates for his lack of pace. As Roberto said, he cruised through the game really, though Swansea could certainly have done more to test him.

I know the manager spoke afterwards about Tyias Browning and Brendan Galloway as being possible options at centre back, and I suppose Tony Hibbert could deputise there if needed, but for me it has to be Distin, with his experience and his know-how.

I won’t lie, I was very disappointed with Saturday’s game. And disappointed in Swansea as much as I was Everton.

I think they’re a good side, Swansea, and they’ve been going well in the league this season. They outplayed us in the League Cup a few weeks back, and I expected them to come to Goodison and look to play.

Instead, they set their stall out early, with 10 men behind the ball and Wilfried Bony on his own up front. It looked to me like they came for a point, and fair enough they got it. I just expected more from Garry Monk’s side.

That said, it was up to Everton to break them down, and we just weren’t at our best on the day. We had enough of the ball, and worked some decent positions, but that final ball just wasn’t there. One or two players were below their best, and credit to Swansea’s defenders, they handled them well.

I was asked afterwards if I was a little surprised to see Romelu Lukaku on the bench Saturday.

The honest answer is that I wasn’t. I just think the squad is so strong at the minute, that you will see changes made week from week.

Rom did well at Burnley, but I thought Aiden McGeady, who replaced him against Swansea, did well also. He had our best effort of the second half, and was unlucky with a couple of others.

That’s the way it is now at Everton, there is competition, and players will have to take any chances that come their way.

I’m sure Lukaku will be back against Lille and Sunderland, and hopefully he will bring goals with him.

A tough trip to Sunderland
As I have said elsewhere, I think Sunday’s game at Sunderland will be a tough one for Everton.

I know Gus Poyet’s side have been in dire form of late, and making some horrendous defensive errors along the way, but I’m always wary when facing teams like that. Their luck has to turn sometime, and Everton have to make sure they are not the victims of that.

The key is to keep the crowd quiet in games like that, and give them a chance to get on the home team’s back. Once that happens, the game becomes a whole lot easier.

Everton looked very good in their last Premier League away game, against Burnley.

More of the same at the Stadium of Light, please.

No resting players
Whenever a Europa League tie pops up, I get asked the same question; how many players would I rest?

The answer, this week, is none. Not one.

This is a chance for Everton to pretty much wrap up qualification for the knockout stages. Victory over Lille would pretty much sort that, for my money.

Therefore, I would go with my strongest available side. Get the job done, and then you can rest players in the last two games, as and when needed.

Sunderland away on Sunday will be difficult, but they will still have a day or two to recover after the Lille game, which I am sure will have a terrific atmosphere by the way. I’d go in with all of the big guns, myself.

Source: Echo