As Everton push for European football, Harrison Armstrong seems to have lost prominence recently.
The Toffees managed to rescue a draw on Saturday against Brentford, again showing great character.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s late equaliser prompted scenes of jubilation in the away end, and Everton remain firmly in the mix.
Sum that one up for us, Blues! 🤩
Beto of Everton scores his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Brentford and Everton.
Credit: Getty Images/Alex Broadway
The table is so tight at the moment, but there is real optimism that European football can be delivered by David Moyes, who has obviously been in this position several times before as a manager.
At the moment, Moyes is putting his trust in the more experienced heads in his squad, and that has been working out.
It has meant a reduced role for Harrison Armstrong, who did not even make Everton’s squad on Saturday.
Harrison Armstrong must prove he has part to play for Everton
David Moyes gives instructions to Harrison Armstrong.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Moyes took the decision to keep hold of Armstrong at the end of the January transfer window, seemingly because he felt the youngster would be able to play regular minutes under him.
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He had featured heavily in January amid a shortage of players for Everton, and then he continued to get minutes through February.
But in recent weeks, Armstrong has featured very little for Everton.
He got just nine minutes against Newcastle United on February 28, before not even getting on in the next game against Burnley.
He then got even less time on the pitch against Arsenal, before not featuring against Chelsea.
And on Saturday, there was no sign of Armstrong in the matchday squad, which is the first time that’s happened since the recall at the start of January.
Mysteriously, there has been no mention of Armstrong’s absence.
And ahead of the game, David Moyes had not reported any kind of injury or fitness issue with Armstrong. So one can only assume that it was a tactical.
If it is indeed the case that Armstrong was left out as a tactical decision, then that will be disappointing for the youngster.
However, he must use the setback as fuel to improve, and get back into the squad as quickly as possible.
Harrison Armstrong claps fans.
Photo by Tiego Grenho/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
On paper, he still has a lot to offer this Everton team.
Perhaps in recent weeks he hadn’t been showing it so much, but there can be sympathy for him having to play out wide at times.
Hopefully, Armstrong – who was branded ‘quality on the ball’ by Michael Ball earlier this year – will respond in the right way and get back into the manager’s thinking.
Given what we know about his mentality, there is surely a good chance of this happening.
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