Mikel Arteta urges teammates to show character
Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta has urged his teammates to stand up and be counted in light of their terrible start to the season. Arteta told the
Liverpool Daily Post, “We need to stand up and we need to show our character now. I know it’s tough and we’ve got some tough games coming up. It is not going to be easy but we have to start winning now.”
The Toffees currently sit 19th in the Premier League and remain winless this term. They also crashed out of the Carling Cup to League One side Brentford on Tuesday night, and Arteta feels his side needs to cut out their silly mistakes and start
punishing the teams on the other end in order to stop the rot. “We have conceded goals through mistakes and we haven’t been able to put the ball in the net when we’ve had the chance,” the Spaniard stated. He added, “Football is about goals. We’re dominating
the games, we’re playing good football and creating chances, but that’s not been enough to win the games at the moment.”
Everton started this season with hopes of challenging for the top six, or even perhaps the top four, following their excellent form at the end of the last campaign. But to their dismay, they head into Saturday’s game at Fulham in the relegation zone, and
with only two points from their opening five league games. Their team is one of quality, but the lack of a reliable striker is definitely holding them back. Louis Saha has the quality to lead the line, but his injury problems often leave the job to Yakubu
Aiyegbeni, who hasn’t been the same player since his lengthy layoff, or summer recruit Jermaine Beckford, who has been thrown in a the deep-end after his two-league jump.
It’s easy to say Everton’s form will inevitably pick up, but if it doesn't happen soon, they will spend another season playing catch-up. The perennial slow-starters need to get going, and Saturday’s game at Craven Cottage would be a good place to start.
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