TOFFEES’ ‘STRONG CHARACTER’ CAN TURN SILVA INTO GOLD
THE Longstaff brothers do not argue about much these days... except when it comes to deciding who is top dog.
Sean and Matty admit that, growing up, they’d fight so much that once their mum had to ask Newcastle United to have a word with the pair, telling them to behave themselves at home.
But these days, they’re best mates – as well as Toon team-mates – and happy to talk about their respect, admiration and love for each other.
The siblings, however, beg to differ on one key issue. “I’ve got a bit of catching up to do,” said Matty, two years younger than Sean, 21, and Toon’s youngest-ever goalscoring debutant against Manchester United earlier this month (celebrating with Andy Carroll, right). “I got UNDER-FIRE Marco Silva is looking for his team to “show more” after hitting a “tough moment” in his Everton tenure.
The Toffees boss is under pressure after four straight defeats plunged his side into the relegation zone.
They face West Ham tomorrow, with Silva (right) man of the match, but I thought Sean was the best player on the pitch by a mile.”
Sean shakes his head and makes his case: “At 19, I wasn’t ready,” he said. “I couldn’t have done what he did, control the tempo of a Premier League game.
“That’s not easy, but he’s gone out and done it in his first game. He’s miles and miles ahead of where I was at his age.
“His work-rate, everything he does off the pitch, is better than me. If I could work as hard as he does, I don’t know where I could get to.”
What makes the Longstaffs special is that they’re both midfielders, who ply their trade just yards apart on the pitch, and Magpies boss Steve Bruce (above) will not hesitate to keep them in the admitting it is a must-win game. And he says the time has come for his players to stand up and be counted.
“When you have tough moments as a football team – and this is a tough moment for us as a club and our fans – we have to do even more,” he said. “As a team, we have to show more, that strong character and personality side at Chelsea tomorrow. “Playing alongside Sean makes it a lot easier for me,” said Matty. “You see how composed he is on the ball.
“A couple of times the other day, when I went a bit ‘headless chicken’, he was there to cover. Having him there makes me better.”
Sean doesn’t underrate the thrill of playing with his kid brother, nor does he deny how emotional he felt when Matty scored his second-half winner against United.
“It fills us with pride,” he said. “Just to be able to do it as brothers, it doesn’t happen a lot.
“Just before kick off, I looked across at Matty and thought how worldwide the Premier League is, and to have two brothers starting from North Shields, at that will have us playing to our best level again and achieving what we want in every single match.
“The first thing is for my team to give everything. We have to be really strong, then the results will come again. In the tough moments, you can see the strong character, the strong 19 and 21, is pretty crazy. When he scored, I actually froze for a second. I didn’t know what to do.
“I filled up and thought I was going to start crying and you can’t do that in the middle of a football pitch.
“I had to try and jump on someone and hide a bit. It was pure happiness, a better feeling than when I scored my first goal.”
The older Longstaff’s elegant style has been compared to fellow Geordie Michael Carrick, while in the aftermath of his memorable debut, Matty’s allaction game was likened to another Old Trafford legend – and fellow ginger, Paul Scholes.
Sean uses such praise as motivation. “Big boots to fill, aren’t they?” he added. “When you hear personality. And how we can be strong as a team.” Manuel Pellegrini has urged Everton to keep faith with Silva. The West Ham boss (left) recalled his own difficult start to life at the London Stadium last season. Pellegrini was beaten in his opening four Premier people comparing you to someone of Michael’s calibre, it gives you a bit of motivation to see if you can get anywhere close to what he did. “If I can have a quarter of the career he’s had, I’d probably snap your hand off.” League games before finally getting off the mark at Everton 13 months ago.
He said: “Last season, we beat them there 3-1, when we were in a similar position to where they are now.
“So, I don’t think Marco should be sacked in the next game. He must continue doing exactly the work he is doing.”