LAMPS DIDN’T DROP BALL
Iwobi backs boss’s blast
IT was said that Frank Lampard took a big risk in questioning his Everton players’ “b **** cks” after the defeat at Crystal Palace.
But, if Alex Iwobi is to be believed, the Toffees boss was only saying what his squad are thinking in suggesting greater fight is required to avoid a disastrous end to the season.
After hopes of silverware ended with the FA Cup exit at Selhurst Park, pulling away from an unexpected relegation battle would now be a successful finish to a forgettable campaign.
And, as far as Iwobi is concerned, that can only be done by heeding the manager’s call for character.
The winger, 25, said: “It’s not just the manager saying it – the players agree with that statement. It starts in training.
“If we’re all trying to fight and be the best that we can be in training then it transforms into matches.
“That’s what we’re hoping to do. Even before Frank came we were saying we had to show more character.
“We know that sometimes we don’t give the fight we’re capable of giving. If we fight, we are capable of competing with anyone in the league.”
Lampard’s post-Palace outburst saw him join a long list of critics who have taken aim at Everton this season.
But Iwobi insists that he has grown used to being targeted by such external negativity and, as such, is capable of turning it into a positive.
He said: “For me personally it gives me that sense of hunger to prove people wrong. I have heard negativity all my life, growing up, when I was at Arsenal, not being able to get a contract and this and that.
“So every time I have heard negativity it gives me that hunger and desire to try and prove people wrong.
“I am sure that’s what many people in the team feel like. Seamus Coleman was saying this should give us the hunger and the will to go and fight for our club and show people Everton’s not soft, Everton’s not going down. “Everyone feels the same way.” Next up for the relegation-threatened
Toffees is this afternoon’s tricky trip to high-flying West Ham, a club with whom Iwobi has personal ties.
But there will be no confusion over his loyalties when it comes to the first of the Toffees’ 11 remaining ‘cup finals.’
“Before I signed for Arsenal, I had to choose between West Ham and Arsenal because I grew up in the Plaistow area,” he added.
“I grew up around the West Ham area so I know what it’s like there, especially when it was Upton Park.
“We have a lot of finals between now and the end of the season. We have to compete to stay in the league.
“We know how much staying in the Premier League means to us and we need to fight for our club.”