Holgate has remained a squad player under Benitez this season and has only made four appearances in the Premier League so far.
The 25-year-old had a day to forget on Sunday when he was shown the red card for a reckless challenge, just eight minutes after coming off the bench in the second half in Everton’s goalless draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
Holgate was asked to play in midfield against Spurs, but he struggled to make any positive impact on the game and ended up receiving his marching orders, which according to ex-Toffee Ball, is down to him being too eager to impress.
Ball stressed that Holgate needs to be wiser on the pitch and also needs to start taking a serious look at his own game.
“It was a bit of a strange substitution with him [Holgate] coming on, maybe it was down to the confidence levels with Jean-Philippe Gbamin, seeing a defender being chosen ahead of him to play in midfield might be another knock for him, but Holgate lost the ball twice, and was left chasing shadows”, Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“The defenders got him out of that situation and we were fortunate that Spurs weren’t really on fire with [Heung-Min] Son and [Harry] Kane.
“Maybe he wanted to put a marker into the game but that eagerness was just too much.
“He overstepped the mark and it wasn’t needed.
“Mason needs to start looking at his game a bit more.
“It’s difficult when you’re coming on as a sub but when he does get an opportunity, he needs to start wising up a little bit.”
Holgate is facing a three-game ban, but first choice centre-back Yerry Mina is tipped to return to training next week, which means he could be available for the trip to Manchester City on 21st November.
