Ex-Everton star names who was actually to blame for Arsenal loss, it's not Pickford

Everton could have avoided defeat against Arsenal had Thierno Barry done more in the build-up to the first goal, according to Michael Ball.

The Toffees stood firm for 89 minutes at Emirates Stadium on Saturday prior to Viktor Gyokeres’ breakthrough goal.

Max Dowman added a second, making Premier League history in the process as the competition’s youngest ever scorer, as Everton were on the end of a 2-0 defeat.

And former player Ball has pointed the finger of blame at Barry following Everton’s loss in North London.

Why is Thierno Barry being blamed for Viktor Gyokeres goal?

Many have blamed Jordan Pickford for Gyokeres’ goal as he flapped at the initial cross that came into the box.

In fact, Pickford apologised to his Everton team-mates in the dressing room for not doing more to prevent the goal, while also being partly to blame for the second goal.

However, writing for the Liverpool Echo, Ball suggested Barry is just as culpable – if not more so – for his actions.

“For me, Arsenal’s breakthrough goal against Everton came from Thierno Barry’s attitude,” he wrote.

“Barry’s body language is very lethargic, so it looks a lot worse at times. If he looks back on his videos, he might be thinking: ‘Can’t I just sprint a little bit more?’

“He was on the pitch for a decent amount of time, but it took him a while to get into the game.

“Arsenal were making mistakes at the back and the goalkeeper was looking quite flustered yet Barry ambled to close him down.”

Ball is referring to a lot further back in the attack, and ultimately what he says does indeed ring true.

David Moyes will no doubt have been the first to make Barry aware of that when reviewing the footage from the game at Finch Farm on Monday morning.

Everton have a Barry problem heading into the summer

It goes without saying that Everton’s strikers, Barry and Beto, have not been good enough this season.

The pair have scored six and five Premier League goals respectively in 33 outings each, which is way below what is expected of a team with outside hopes of competing for a European spot.

Barry only arrived last summer, but already Moyes will secretly be hoping for an upgrade to arrive this summer.

Everton clearly need to prioritise signing a striker ahead of next season if they wish to push on.

It may well be that Barry comes good, and he undoubtedly has various strengths, but Moyes needs a player capable of hitting closer to 15 goals – let alone double figures alone.

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