‘Players have to stand up and be counted’
MICHAEL Keane admits Everton’s players have suffered a chronic drop in confidence as they struggle through a losing start to the new campaign.
The huge optimism after the re-signing of Wayne Rooney among £140million worth of new talent has evaporated, with just one Premier League win from their past five games.
Everton have also made the worst ever start by an English team in the Europa League group stages, with one point from their opening two matches.
And Keane, one of the big summer additions after a £30m transfer from Burnley, believes there may be a simple explanation for the dramatic drop-off in form.
“Maybe it’s down to confidence,” said the England defender. “There are loads of great players here but you get confidence from winning games and especially lately we have not been winning many.
“We had a bad week a few weeks ago. The confidence of a few of the lads is pretty low but the only way you can come out of that is to keep working hard and do the right things. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and things aren’t dropping for us. We have to keep working hard to turn it around.”
Keane, 24, has been part of an Everton side who have scored just four goals in their seven league games and who, after Sunday’s home defeat to his old club Burnley, now stand just two points above the relegation zone. Fans have booed the HEADS UP: Keane challenges Burnley’s Chris Wood on Sunday players off at Goodison, after the Burnley loss and the midweek Europa League draw with Cypriot minnows Apollon, and speculation has mounted about boss Ronald Koeman’s future. Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri issued a statement yesterday in which he gave his backing to the beleaguered Dutchman, left. And Keane said it is the players, rather than their manager, who have to rectify their predicament. “Everyone has to stand up and be counted,” said Keane. “It’s down to us. “The manager puts a team out but we have to carry out his plans and his game plan. I feel like we did that pretty well against Burnley and I feel he will say the same. “It’s the final moment in the final third to create a chance and when we do get them, taking them. We need to keep working hard every day on the training pitch, doing all the right things, all the time. That’s all you can do – do your best every time.
“He’s an experienced manager, we’ve some experienced players and they know we will come out of this stage. If we get a few wins the confidence will come back and hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.”
Koeman’s cause has not been helped by an unkind fixture schedule that has featured not only mid-summer Europa qualifying games that disrupted pre-season but also testing meetings with the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Tottenham.
But Keane said there is no hint of panic around Goodison at such an early stage.
“It’s only seven games in, there is a long way to go,” said Keane. “It’s been a slow start but we just have to pick it up.
“If we had beaten Burnley, we would have been eighth or something like that and climbing up the table.
“Things can change quick, we’ve had a bad start to the season but we are still not too far from where we want to be.
“If we put a good run together, three or four wins together, which we are capable of doing then I’m sure we will climb up the table.”
The mood at Keane’s former club, meanwhile, could hardly be more contrasting with Burnley having collected eight points away from Turf Moor already – one more than they managed in the whole of last season.
“It’s not easy for any team to break them down,” said Keane. “They keep their shape really well. They are brave, put their bodies on the line. It has to be something special to break them down or a mistake, which is very rare from Burnley.
“But it hasn’t surprised me with the way they work and the message from the staff there.
“They have a lot of great players and they recruited well in the summer.”