Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ALLAN IS A HIGH FLYER
Samba star tells Evertonto go for Europe
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EVERTON midfielder Allan insists they must dream about qualifying for Europe – despite being given a Goodison wake-up call.
The bruising Brazilian enforcer, who built a formidable reputation starring in the Champions League for Napoli, revealed that Rafa Benitez’s men have set their sights high this season.
But Everton travel to Wolves tomorrow night having to deal with the reality check of successive home defeats at the hands of West Ham and Watford.
Allan admitted: “I think we had a really good start, but the last two results at home, where we should be expecting to win and coming away with six points, ended up being two defeats.
“We must improve and we must take our opportunity on Monday. We are working very hard this week to improve that.
“It’s about our mentality and we need to think positively, to believe in our work and our plan, and we can’t be taken by surprise.
“For example, in the last game we conceded three or four goals in the last 15 minutes.
“We need to work very hard and we’ll benefit from that by achieving wins.
“Our main objective is to improve on last season, but we have to look at things game by game and see where we are at the end of the season.
“I hope we get a European place because that would be a dream. “That is everybody’s dream, but it’s very difficult to talk now about where we will be in six or seven months’ time.”
Allan, 30, arrived from the Serie A giants in a £22million deal at the start of last season and has become a firm favourite with the Goodison faithful.
Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to leave for Real Madrid prompted the Toffees to controversially turn to former Liverpool boss Benitez.
And Allan believes the Spaniard has already had a positive effect.
He added: “He is a great coach who has won a lot and has had a spectacular career.
“So his impact when he has come into our team has generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst us players.
“We started the season really well under Rafa but, unfortunately, we have had two accidents along the path.
“We now need to work hard and follow his directions to get over this spell we are having.
“I believe Rafa’s experience, together with the players’ experience and hard work we put in during the week, means we will have a good season.
“We have tremendous potential to be fighting for the top positions in the league.
“We’ve obviously had difficulties with a series of injuries but we have very good, experienced players.
“As a group, we showed at the start of the season what we can do.
“I believe we have the potential to go in as equals, toe-to-toe, with all the top teams.
“There are some details we need to correct, but I believe everything is in place to improve on last season.”