TOO SOON FOR TOSUN
Cenk warns Toffees: I need time to shine
CENK TOSUN has promised the best is yet to come.
But Toffees fans may have to wait until next season to see the £27m striker find top gear.
Tosun fired in his second goal for Everton, to add to a Gaetan Bong own goal, easing some of the pressure on under-fire boss Sam Allardyce.
It also took some of the heat off the January signing from Turkish side Besiktas, who is only now starting to find his feet.
“It’s good for confidence because it was not easy for me to settle in here,” said Tosun.
“They are two very different countries but now I feel better physically. I feel sharper and I think I will be better in a few weeks.
“The football is much faster here than in Turkey and you have to be stronger. These are the two biggest differences between Turkey and England.
“I had like seven or eight days off and then I came straight in and played the Tottenham game without being in the best shape.
“I was not good physically but the training in Dubai and the training here made me better.
“It is not easy coming from another country and to play well immediately.
“That’s why I said the first half-season I have to settle in, get to know the other players better, and then next season I hope it will be better.”
Everton played with more intent and tempo than last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Burnley.
That was down to Wayne Rooney shining in a deep-lying midfield role and full-backs Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman impressing.
But it was a cross from Yannick Bolasie that helped open the scoring on the hour. He tried to find Theo Walcott only for Bong to turn the ball past his own keeper.
Tosun smashed in the second off the underside of the bar in the 76th minute before Anthony Knockaert was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Baines. Rooney then missed a penalty after Dominic Calvert-Lewin was brought down by Shane Duffy in the area.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton bemoaned a chance wasted to edge closer to Premier League safety.
But he insisted he will play a strong team in Saturday’s FA Cup quarterfinal at Manchester United.
It was also a chance squandered by the ineffective Glenn Murray to impress England boss Gareth Southgate, ahead of Thursday’s squad announcement for the World Cup warm-up games against Italy and Holland.
“My main aim is to keep scoring goals for Brighton and keep us in the Premier League,” Murray said.
“If you’re in form you just never know. It’s a competition that is around the corner, not something we are building for four years down the line.
“It’s four months down the line. Form does come in to play.”