I felt shattered after Everton’s win over Chelsea and I expect the majority of the other 39,000 at Goodison Park felt the same. It felt like the longest game in history but there was so much relief afterwards.
It was a fantastic display from both the players and the fans with the situation before the game. After Burnley had come back to beat Watford the previous day, that can knock the stuffing out of you as a player as the pressure is ramped up but if they were lacking anything then seeing the thousands line the streets to cheer them on during their way in would have given that extra bit of oomph and it worked.
We had to be at it as Chelsea are last season’s Champions League winners and a team with quality players who can hurt you but we just made them play backwards and sideways. The kick-off even epitomised what the day was going to be about as normally we don’t get anything from it but we managed to get a free-kick in a dangerous area just seconds after the start.
TALKING POINT: Frank Lampard critics are wrong and Chelsea win showed why he should stay at Everton next season
MOMENTS MISSED: What Jordan Pickford did after stunning double Everton save as 'corrupt' banner unfurled
Some of the players who I’ve been on the back of for quite a while, stood up to be counted and showed passion and desire. If you give everything for that shirt then the fans will give you that back in abundance.
There’s a total contrast in atmosphere to earlier in the season when we lost 5-2 at home to Watford and the wins over Manchester United and now Chelsea and it shows when the crowd are up for it, the players can respond.
Jordan Pickford was unbelievable but he remains demanding of his team-mates for switching off. That’s what we’ve been lacking all season, you need to look after yourself but if somebody else isn’t on his toes, you need to tell him.
We need responsibility and leadership all over the pitch and that’s what we saw in abundance against Chelsea, including with Richarlison’s goal as he made the effort himself by closing the ball down. He could have easily just stood still, the ball was going to a senior pro (captain Cesar Azpilicueta) who I don’t think has ever made a mistake to lead to a goal against Chelsea before.
Given the amount of effort that Richarlison puts in, you thought it’s probably not the best time for him to go an close the ball down given we’d just kicked off the second half and you want to keep your shape but he could smell danger and that he could get something out of the situation. That’s what could players do, the ball bounced nicely for him and he slotted it away.
The roar of Goodison was unbelievable after that goal and I think even the majority of the Chelsea players gave up after that and even their fans did. Normally when they go away, they’re loud and sing their songs, but they must have thought: “We can’t challenge these.”
Given the position we’re in, we know we can’t dominate a game for 90 minutes and top quality opponents will get in between the lines and hit the target but fortunately for us, Jordan was on fine form with at least three big saves – all of which were world class. Afterwards, Frank Lampard referred to him as “England’s number one” rather than by name and it will be a boost for him as he’s had his critics, mostly from outside, even though Evertonians know how good he is.
I know Frank and while he’ll be happy, he’ll want more. He’ll be analysing that game and looking at the times we won the ball and what we could have done better, especially showing a bit more composure, which would help us to see out games easier and would also help my heart!
There was quite a bit of negativity about how Everton played in the Merseyside Derby – not from ourselves, we set up with a game plan that looked like it was working but the refereeing decisions went against us and it was a bitter bill to swallow – but give Frank credit, he had a similar approach here but when we got the ball we were much better at breaking the opposition down. We had so many chances to put the game to bed, Vitalii Mykolenko, whose game has come on a lot over the past few weeks, had an opportunity to score while Demarai Gray normally puts away the chance that he missed.
I’m sure the players can see the passion of the fans and but our wonderful football club is not just about the players. Going down could impact on people’s jobs, their livelihoods, you don’t know how bad it could be over the next few years but we don’t want to think about that. We’ve just got to give everything to try and make sure we stay in the Premier League and then we can reassess in the summer on how it all went wrong – there’s no time for that now.
Iwobi is on a different level now and his efforts are rubbing off
Alex Iwobi has been a totally different player under Lampard of late. Yes we know what he’s like on the ball but his work rate is now shining through and his enthusiasm is rubbing off.
When he did that 40-yard sprint about four times a few games ago and the crowd cheered every yard of it, I think that’s when he ‘got’ Everton and the Everton fans. You can sense that he wants that cheer from the crowd and he’s putting that extra effort in.
That’s not his natural game, he’s added that. Since he came to the club he’s been generally underwhelming and his performances haven’t been anywhere near the levels that we’d have expected but the energy, effort and desire plus his ability when he’s had the ball to create opportunities under Lampard these last few weeks have gone to a different level which is fantastic to see.
When you see Richarlison closing the opposition down or Iwobi getting a cheer for his efforts, it rubs off on others and they want to be part of that. It lifts your game and your energy levels.
Every player is an individual and has a different way of going about the game but since Frank came in, I think he’s needed Iwobi, has put his arm around him and believed in him. If you read bits and pieces in the programme, it seems obvious that he’s the trickiest and most-skilful player at the club while that’s great in training, football on a matchday isn’t always about that sort of stuff.
We’re seeing a different kind of character from him now, someone who is hungry to prove everyone wrong. I was one of the observers who had written him off and I don’t think he was anywhere near the level he needed to be at.
He’ll have his own reasons why that was the case and it’s difficult when you’re in and out of a side to produce on a consistent basis but that’s gone and when a new manager comes in then it’s a clean slate for everyone. He’s repaying that faith Lampard has shown in him and the fans are taking to him as well.
When we’ve been in relegation battles in the past, it’s not always the most-obvious of candidates who get you out of it. We’ve had the likes of Barry Horne and Gareth Farrelly getting big goals and Iwobi could well prove to be a saviour for us if he continues to grow in confidence and can finish the season with some more goals and assists.
Lesson for Gordon as set-pieces can help keep Everton up
Everton had a few set-pieces in dangerous areas but we didn’t make the most of them but I feel this is an area the team could utilise during the run-in. We’ve got Yerry Mina back now and he was asking for the ball a lot in those areas, especially with long throw-ins, as he’s spotted there are opportunities and is coming up.
I was a bit of a ‘short long throw’ – if you can call it that – specialist back in the day and it was important because we had big Duncan Ferguson and Kevin Campbell and could use it to our advantage. The ball can come in so slow which makes it difficult to defend against as it’s hard to get distance as a defender and you can often get a second bite of the cherry to hurt the opposition. We used to work on it and got a few goals that kept us in the league or won us important games.
You can see the energy and passion oozing out of Anthony Gordon when he’s playing at Goodison Park but I think with wide free-kicks he needs to just settle down a little bit. He’s trying to put a perfect 10 out of 10 ball in with the width and the pace bang on which is understandable but sometimes you just have to put it in that area.
If you just put it on Mina’s head, he can go and attack it and we don’t always need the pace and the power from the delivery because we’ve got big fellas who can cause the opposition problems.
