Not only is today Friday, but if you're reading this from the United States you probably have a three-day weekend to do nothing but watch Premier League football (and maybe catch a little NHL action too). A more beautiful thing I cannot imagine, although we have to wait until Monday to watch Everton play, so that's kind of lame. Let's get to the links...
The official site has an interview with Thomas Hitzlsperger, in which the midfielder admits he thought his footballing days were done when he was without a team over the summer. His game can be a little one-dimensional at times, but Hitzlsperger has filled an area of need for Everton and has been a decent pickup for the price.
Here are a bunch of quotes from David Moyes ahead of the visit to Southampton. Moyes is urging his players to remain patient as they attempt to break down the teams in the bottom half of the table, teams that Everton can't afford to slip up against in their quest for European football. I guess I get what Moyes is saying, but honestly I want to see the team playing aggressively and without fear against relegation fodder.
Phil Jagielka has some words of encouragement for Nikica Jelavic in the Liverpool Echo, though he also warns the striker that he will need to diversify his game if he is to regain the prolific scoring touch we saw last season. Football is a game of adjustments, and I think what we are seeing right now is a league that has clearly adjusted to Jelavic's style of play. Now it's up to him to make some adjustments of his own.
Also in the Echo, there is some encouraging news concerning Goodison Park attendances. Apparently plenty of people are jumping on the bandwagon, which has resulted in a 152% increase in half season ticket sales. This is obviously great to hear, as bigger crowds should enhance both the match atmosphere and the ability to buy players in the future.
We may disagree on a lot of stuff in this world: religion, politics, and even sports. But it's comforting to know that we can all at least agree on the fact that Luis Suarez is a cheater. In fact, he even admits it himself. What a lovely fellow that team employs.
And last but not least, here's a video of an eagle owl filmed at 1,000 frames per second. The last few seconds are seriously cool.