LEIGHTON BAINES PRAISES ROONEY MOVE

Everton defender Leighton Baines has praised the move of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.


The defender says the all-time goalscorer for United has “a lot” to contribute to the team.

Everton FC are set to face GorMahia in Tanzania on Thursday and Rooney is expected to feature for the first time in a royal blue jersey since his return to his boyhood club. The England national team skipper trained with the team on Wednesday evening after his grand arrival at Dar esSaleem. He had completed the deal from Old Trafford on Sunday before making the flight to join his teammates on Wednesday.

Everton stars have been involved in a number of cultural events since they arrived at the African country. AdemolaLookman, IdrissaGueye, YannickBolasie and Baines visited the UhuruMchanganyiko Primary School. They were showed what UK Aid were doing for the physically impaired students. Read More

Ronald Koeman comments on Leighton Baines

Ronald Koeman reckons that Leighton Baines has flown under the radar a little bit as people haven’t talked about him in the on-going season as much as they should.


As per Koeman, the contribution of Baines in Everton’s recent run in the Premiership has been as big as that of anyone else and he has proved that even in his thirties, he is worth his weight in gold.

In Koeman’s opinion, Baines is a wise Footballer and his subtleties on the pitch are brilliant to watch. But, it’s just that there are a few Footballers who gather all the attention and there are a few others who don’t get that much of it despite playing equally well and Baines sadly comes in the second category despite being a top notch defender.

Koeman also doesn’t think that Baines is approaching the end of his stint at Everton. The coach backs the 32-year old to continue to be at his peak for at least a couple of more seasons or possibly even longer than that as he has kept his body in a great shape so far. Read More

Everton adapted to Koeman

Everton defender Leighton Baines believe that the players have adapted to Ronald Koeman playing style and that they are now performing better.


He admitted that things have not been easy in the beginning as Ronald Koeman is quite demanding as manager, but the players have managed to adapt to his training method.

Leighton Baines said that Ronald Koeman is an ambitious person and he is always looking for ways to improve the team. He has told the players that he want them to challenge for a place in the Europa League and that they should all be giving their best on the pitch.

Baines said that their defensive record was very poor before the arrival of Koeman and the manager has managed to bring changes at the back. He said that Koeman favor a more pressing style and he wants his players to be aggressive on the pitch. Baines stated that it was not easy in the beginning as this mean that some players had to change their playing style to fit the manager’s demand. Read More

KOEMAN: BOLASIE INJURY A BIG BLOW FOR EVERTON

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has said that the injury to Yannick Bolasie is a big one.


The coach who took over from Roberto Martinez at the start of the season has had both highs and lows, after he left his former club – Southampton. Ahead of the Toffee’s visit to Watford, Koeman spoke to Sky Sports.

Koeman admitted that he does not have the players at the club to play exactly how he wanted. A lot of enthusiasm greeted Koeman’s start at the club after his incredible run in the last campaign but a win in nine league games has dampened the drive in the team.

“From the start after pre-season, we knew that we needed a change in the team. Even in that good run, we knew that we had to change some things,” Koeman said.

On what he need to change, the Dutchman pointed to the team’s struggle to “press opponents.”

“Sometimes we’re doing individual pressing instead of team pressing and that starts from the front,” Koeman added. Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku is the lead striker and with his poor record of covering the least ground last season, the coach has problems with it. However, Koeman refused to single out any player as he feels it is a team problem.

“If the players at the front are pressing and the defenders are not pushing up, that means there is too much room for out opponent. The team is too long, not compact enough, and then it’s difficult,” he said. Read More

SISSOKO REVEALS WHY HE SNUBBED EVERTON

Former Newcastle United player Moussa Sissoko has explained why he snubbed interests from Everton during the transfer window.


The France international opted to move to Tottenham Hotspurs. He disclosed the reasons for his move to spurs ahead of Everton, and it is not stunning.

“Why would I have joined Everton? Spurs are a bigger club. Without wishing to offend Everton, Tottenham in my opinion is a bigger club than Everton,” Sissoko explained.

The player moved to White Hart Lane for £30 million with his pricing rising after his impressive run at the Euro 2016 for France. The 27-year old drew interests from all quarters after the Euro. The player reportedly switched off his phone to avoid calls from Everton coach Ronald Koeman ahead of his spurs move. Koeman wanted to convince him to join his movement for the new term but the player had decided already. Read More

EVERTON OWNER FARHAD MOSHIRI CONTINUES WITH CHANGES

Barely six months ago, Farhad Moshiri entered the lives of “Evertonians,” but has forced sweeping changes in the team and club as a whole.


A majority of Everton fans don’t even know him much, despite the changes he has made in the football club. He is reported to have made the decision to own the club on February 27th when he acquired half the available stake in Everton. He hasn’t made much appearances, aside a few statements and a brief appearances on the club’s website.

In the short time he has owned the club, the club’s manager has been sacked and a top replacement gotten. Steve Walsh has been poached from the Premier League champions, and plans are in place for a new stadium even as a facelift for Goodison is in place.

Fans want top players to join the recent crop in the squad, but the process has been frustrating. Moshiri said he was set to provide coach Ronald Koeman funds to acquire more players before the transfer deadline – which closes 11pm Wednesday, August 31. This summer Wales international Ashley Williams joined from Swansea, even as the club lost John Stones to Manchester City in a big money move.
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DE BOER INTERESTED IN EVERTON JOB, HIS BROTHER SAYS

Ronald, brother to Frank de Boer says the tactician is keen on the Everton Manager’s role, though he added that:


“It’s not up to him to make the move, that’s up to the club.”

The Toffees have also been linked with Southampton boss Ronald Koeman and Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez following the sacking of current coach, Roberto Martinez. Benitez is an “almost perfect fit” for Everton, former England defender Danny Mills told BBC Radio 5 live. He said the former Liverpool boss would be open to a return to Merseyside.

Mills said:

“He lives there, his family is there and he’d be happy going back.

He also added it was “not beyond the realms of possibility” that Benitez ended up Everton and Martinez replaced him at Newcastle, where he would likely use the advantage of the clause of his contract to leave as they have been relegated.

There are other contenders in current Manchester City coach, Manuel Pellegrini, set to leave as the club has appointed Bayern boss, Pep Guardiola as the next in line from this summer. There are others in Mark Hughes, Brendan Rodgers, David Moyes, Martin O’Neill and Unai Emery. Hughes has impressed at Stoke City and Rodgers remains out of a job since being sacked by Liverpool in October. Former Toffees boss Moyes, who spent 11 years in charge at Goodison, is also available after unsuccessful stints at Manchester United and Real Sociedad. O’Neill will guide the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016 but has yet to sign a new contract for the 2018 World Cup while Emery will secure a hat-trick of Europa League titles with Sevilla if the Spanish side beat Liverpool in this season’s final. Read More

TIM HOWARD SHOWS HIS AFFECTION FOR EVERTON

Tim Howard has taken to popular social media tool, Twitter; to reveal the level of affection he has his former club. Howard agreed to a move to Colorado Rapids for a three-and-a-half-year deal from the end of this season. The goalkeeper for the United States agreed to go back home after over a decade in England.

Tim Howard started his career with The Red Devils in 2003 before moving to Everton. The 37-year-old would be leaving The Toffees after his disappointing performance this season and falling in the pecking order at the club.

He performed brilliantly for Everton over the years but just ha to leave the club as things went awry. Playing top flight football in the English Premier League at his current age is no small feat.

The American is being replaced in the first team by Joel Robles. Everton are currently in 12th position in the table having garnered 38 points from 30 matches.

Howard remains the first choice for the US. Even though the deal has been concluded, the goalkeeper would be added to the Colorado Rapids’s club roster when the Secondary Transfer Window opens in the first week of July. He would also be added when there’s the International Transfer Certificate (ITC).

However, the MLS outfit have gone on to announced the acquisition after agreeing to a deal with the player through the allocation process. Colorado Rapids was the first in the Allocation Ranking Order on a January 14 trade with the Chicago Fire this year.

Howard tweeted via his handle: @TimHowardGK. Read More

SLADE LEFT DISAPPOINTED

Russell Slade is disappointed Everton couldn’t make use of the chances versus Nottingham Forest the other day.

Everton desperately wanted a win to boost their chances to make the playoffs, but, Forest denied that by playing some ultra defensive Football.

The Blues were clearly the better team in the contest in all aspects, but, it’s because of their failure to convert the chances, they fell short of victory.

Slade was of the opinion that Forest’s defensive play was a factor, but, according to him, the number of chances his team got; they should definitely have scored more than one goal in the game.”

In the words of Slade, “We could have scored a couple more goals in the first 45 minutes. But, we missed the opportunities.”

“Their strategy was pretty clear. They wanted to be as deep as they could. But, it was up to us to unlock the defence and we failed to do that, much to our disappointment.”

“We have to be more ruthless and make sure the pressure we put on opposition, we don’t let it get released. We must make the opportunities count.”

There was, however, not too much of disappointment in the Forest camp.

Their boss Dougie Freedman was quoted as saying, “Our plan was to take the pace out of the game later on and lessen the intensity of the Everton supporters.”

“A good team performance I would say. The youngsters played really well. It was fantastic to see them get going right away.”

This was the 10th draw for Nottingham Forest in the English second tier in the ongoing season. They have won 7 games too and with a total of 31 points, they are currently stationed at no. 14 in the points table, 5 places below Cardiff City.