The fundamentals of being hard to beat and being as fit as you can is what’s needed - especially with the position Everton find themselves in.
We’re not going to steamroll teams 3-0 or 4-0, every game from now until the end of the season is going to be a huge battle, and Sean Dyche and his coaching staff identified that as soon as they walked through the door.
They got the players as fit as they can be and gave them that opportunity to go and express themselves.
If you look at the work ethic now to what it was before Christmas, it would be off the charts. When the mentality changes, then you start believing in yourself.
Goodison was bouncing on Monday night. Even though we went down to 10 men and went a goal down, after that shellshock, it turned again.
The fans got up and the players started believing because they’ve got that energy. Sean Dyche will be proud of the mentality - but the fans will be too. We’ve been sick of seeing them down tools over the years, and not get back into games, but Dyche and his coaching staff have got the players believing. And if you keep going and keep fighting, then you will get your rewards. We got something on Monday and we were unlucky not to get three points.
Manchester United will be afraid of playing Everton and we've got to show belief
We gave Manchester United a good game in the FA Cup but unfortunately collapsed in the end.
They’ve got a game in midweek against Brentford, which won’t be easy, but we have to focus on ourselves. We know it’s going to be a difficult game, we know they’re going to dictate the play, but we’ve shown against Arsenal and Tottenham that we are compact and hard to beat. But when we do get our opportunities, can we make the right decision? That’s what has let us down.
Old Trafford is always difficult but they’ll be afraid of playing against Everton. We’re unbeaten in four and we're going there needing to win.
We’re not going to let them swan around the football pitch like we have done previously. We’ve got to be switched on and show willingness, desire and be a little bit cuter in certain moments, and I’m sure we’ll give Manchester United a game.
All we have to keep doing is getting points on the board. The target is to get maximum at home and get anything away from home.
I’ve got more belief in this set of players now. Our away record hasn’t been good for quite a number of years now but we go to Old Tafford thinking we can get something - and that is what you want as fans.
You’ve got to have that belief that you can get something otherwise there’s no point turning up. I’m more hopeful than I was months ago. Not everything is rosy at Old Trafford, they’re doing okay but if they've not scored after 20 minutes, can we feed off that and make it difficult for Man United and get something out of it?
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