Everton have managed only five league wins from 24 games this season and two of them came in the last four matches.
The Premier League side’s poor run has seen them languish in the relegation zone, a point behind Leeds United, who were 17th in the table, and three points behind 14th place Leicester City.
Everton brought in several players last summer and majority of the investment was spent on signing Amadou Onana from Lille. The midfielder has been a regular for the Toffees this season, making 20 starts in the league.
So Foot interviewed the Belgium international, where he stressed Everton’s history and their current situation has put extra pressure on him and his teammate.
“It’s not an easy season. I had never played before in a team that fought not to go down, and the fact that Everton is an important club in England, and that it has never gone down to the Championship, that adds a little more pressure,” he said.
“But we take it well, we live it well, we know that we have the quality and the ability to keep the club in the Premier League.”
“On a personal level, it’s going pretty well, because I’ve evolved in the space of half a season, it shows on the pitch in the maturity of my game. I had to adapt quickly, because here, there is less time to think, fit in spaces, turn around… I create a lot more chances than before, because I am more present in the sixteen meters. When I took stock of my performance this summer, it was one of the points I wanted to improve.”
Last November, the 21-year-old admitted Frank Lampard seduced him to join Everton.
Lampard is no longer in charge at Goodison Park as Everton showed him the exit door in January. Sean Dyche was appointed as his successor later that month and has been in charge for four matches so far.
Onana was asked what he remembers of the former Everton manager.
“He was one of the reasons I joined the club. He called me every day to talk about football, the place I would have in the team and what I could improve,” the Belgian explained.
“It’s never pleasant to part after such a short time. He’s a good coach: I owe him this recent offensive progress, it’s something he told me every day until it clicked.”
“He didn’t make me do too many long shots because I don’t have his shot (laughs), but it wasn’t uncommon for us to do some finishing work with other players and him after the training.”
