Iwobi counting on Good vibes lifting Toffees to safety
ALEX IWOBI says Everton will thrive on the electric atmosphere at Goodison Park in their battle for Premier League survival on Sunday.
“We thrive on it,” said midfielder Iwobi, whose side face Bournemouth in a do-or-die showdown. “It is electric when we are on the bus, coming into the game and you can see them chanting, banging the bus.
“It will be so important for us.We really feel it on the pitch, everyone is doing that extra bit of running, moving that extra mile to make a tackle.
“We definitely feel it when they are chanting, we say things to each other on the pitch.We are going to need that good atmosphere again.”
Iwobi knows all about the seething emotion of Goodison Park after Everton’s great escape last season, when a magnificent comeback win against Crystal Palace in their penultimate match delivered safety.
This time, it has come down to the final game with the same scenario – a win against the Cherries condemning both Leeds and Leicester to the Championship no matter what they do.
While Iwobi does not even live in Liverpool, he is surrounded by Blues. “My neighbours are Everton fans, they always say, ‘Come on, you can’t go down’. Even my gardener is an Everton fan.
“This morning the gardener was there and he just said, ‘We’ll do it, we’ll do it’. I was driving off like, ‘Yes, I’m sure we’ll do it’. It shows me who I am doing this for and what it means to them.”
There are plenty of reasons for Iwobi and his team-mates to do it for themselves – £100million of them, which is the calculated cost of losing Premier League status.
Given Everton’s precarious financial situation, relegation could be even more catastrophic and Iwboi will not even consider the possibility.
He added: “There is a massive gulf and, no disrespect to the Championship, but you don’t want to go in it. Everyone sees the Premier League as the best league in the world – and that’s where we want to stay.We’re not thinking about going into the Championship, not in my mind – I am just making sure next season we are in the Premier League.”
There will be one last reminder of what it means for Everton on Sunday just before kick-off. Skipper Seamus Coleman, above – “he is Everton”, according to Iwobi – will deliver a rousing speech.
“He will speak to us before the game – he’s been hobbling around on his crutches, reminding us how so many people are affected by our results, and to him, the people upstairs, the staff and what it should mean to us,” Iwobi said. On Sunday, Everton will know that, for sure.