We [Everton] head into this weekend’s match against Bournemouth seven games undefeated in the Premier League, which is never easy to achieve. We are keeping clean sheets again and our new manager, Sam Allardyce, has really helped in that respect.
We’ve gone back to basics since Sam arrived in November and I think you can see that on the pitch with the way we are performing. We know we can get better going forward and that’s something we are striving to do but having the base of keeping clean sheets is massively important. We have recorded six in our last eight games, conceding only two goals in that period.
In training we have worked in a back-four or back-five, defending wave after wave of attacks. We have paid attention to distances of where we want to be on the pitch and worked on covering each other. It’s things like that – if you do them little but often it makes a big difference. The manager has got us all working together as a unit and we know that defending starts from the front and through midfield as well.
I was recalled to the team against Chelsea – when we took a point in a hard-earned nil-nil draw – and hopefully that performance will give me that confidence to kick on. I did well in that match at Goodison and then played against West Brom on Boxing Day, when we kept another clean sheet.
Sam Allardyce and his staff have breathed new life into Everton
The manager has been great and has spoken to me on several occasions to offer advice. He’s a likeable guy who is easy to talk to, and I feel any one of the lads could approach him if they wanted to ask a question.
Obviously, he has bags of experience, as do the staff he has brought in such as assistant manager Sammy Lee and first-team coach Craig Shakespeare. The atmosphere is great and the lads are really enjoying playing football again.
Another big factor behind our recent upturn in form has been Wayne Rooney’s performances. He’s scoring plenty of goals but it’s also his calmness on the ball – he is always looking to play forward and release those passes between the lines.
Wayne Rooney has been a real asset to the squad
With all his experience, he is great to have around the place. He’s not someone who is going to force anything on you but, if you want to pick his brain, he’s more than happy to help.
We approach the new year with plenty of optimism. We need to keep working hard on the training ground and maintain that belief in what we are doing. That stems from results, so we want to continue grinding them out, winning matches and keep that undefeated run going.
We are all looking up now instead of down and, whilst we don’t want to look too far ahead, we still believe we have a chance of forcing our way into the battle for European places.
