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Ronald Koeman addressed the media ahead of Sunday’s game between Everton and Manchester City, and talked about the injury situation on his squad as well as youngster Tom Davies.
Will Morgan Schneiderlin debut against Manchester City? Find out in Ronald Koeman's latest press conference!
Posted by Everton Football Club on Friday, January 13, 2017
“We had a really big disappointment last week, but until then we lost only one game - a derby after 95 mins. Everybody knows it’s difficult to beat Everton at home.
“We know we need to be very good. We still have the game away at City in our mind. They had a great performance away at West Ham, but if we go face to face on Sunday and play with that aggression, we can make it very difficult for them.”
As far as the injuries go -
“James McCarthy and Maarten Stekelenburg are both fit and training with the team, but the question for the manager is always if they are ‘game fit’. We need to make that decision tomorrow.”
Goalie Stekelenburg had saved two penalties earlier in the season away to City, but would that affect Koeman’s decision on who to pick?
“No no, not really. Joel did well most of the games, and we had good results mostly. It’s always going to be a tough decision who will start on Sunday.“
On youngster Davies who has been filling in during Idrissa Gueye’s absence due to the Africa Cup of Nations -
“He’s progressing well. When I came to Everton we had some young players in the squad, and you saw their qualities.
“He’s improved a lot this season. Played a lot of U23s because that’s my vision if he is not part of the first team. It’s the same for Ademola Lookman - if he doesn’t play first team, he plays U23s. You need to play every week to improve young players.
“Davies is physically strong, he’s improved a lot, he’s more comfortable on the ball. It’s all about view of the game, which is difficult to learn.
“He’s shown when he’s started, that he’s very good.”
In a separate interview, Gueye expressed his satisfaction at Everton signing Morgan Schneiderlin, saying -
“It’s good for the team and we are happy to have Morgan with us.
“I hope it will be good for us when I come back and it will be difficult for other teams to pass us in the midfield.”