It’s fair to say the French media aren’t impressed with Everton one bit after Thursday night’s Europa League match against Lyon.
They don’t think the players are much good, the tactics, the style, and aggression, and the supporters are described as being pretty out of order too.
Ashley Williams is picked for special criticism, and it’s stated he should have been sent off for his aggression and what’s seen as fighting, but it’s the supporters who seem to have caused the most surprise.
In their Friday edition, L’Equipe state that after an altercation between Williams and Anthony Lopes ‘There followed one of the most unreal scenes seen in Europe in recent seasons… we saw a father, his child in an arm, send rights in the direction of Lopes’.
Former Chelsea player Bertrand Traoré is quoted as saying he got hit too. “It’s not normal what happened. When we see this, we help each other as a team and so I came to help Lopes. But a supporter punched me! It’s incredible.”
Now there’ll be days of classifying what a punch is, downgrading hits to slaps or pushes, but the whole episode is something of a mess and won’t help Everton build a reputation as a serious club on the up.
