Everton’s season thus far has been unusual, almost hard to anticipate. After all, we’re just eight games into the current Premier League season, and the Toffees have already been written off as relegation fodder and are now regarded as a safe mid-table team. Because football is so unpredictable, perceptions on players are also subject to change, with some, such as Abdoulaye Doucoure, Michael Keane, and Jordan Pickford, experiencing comebacks following a poor run of form. However, one player in particular has captured the attention of Everton’s management. Sean Dyche reveals a private Michael Keane chat.
Dyche expressed renewed excitement and relief following his side’s straightforward victory over Ipswich Town, according to the Liverpool ECHO. After all, they had lost their first four games, thus pressure was mounting on his position. That has faded considerably after being unbeaten in the next four games. During this conversation, he focused on Keane in particular, explaining how and why the 31-year-old is still so trusted: ‘When he went away in the summer, I said, ‘Look, it’s not a given that centre halves play every game.’ I stated, “Of course, I was loyal to the ones last season because I thought they were excellent for a large portion of the season.” But I responded, ‘Come back fit’.
‘He returned as fit as I remembered him, and I thought he worked quite hard in preseason. I believed he was a solid performer throughout the preseason. He scarcely missed any – he only took one knock and missed a game or came off, and we looked after him at Preston. Another private chat that was recently revealed was when Dyche outlined what he was telling Dwight McNeil he needed to work on, despite his excellent start. Michael Keane is one of Everton’s longest-serving players.
It’s remarkable to imagine that, with the exception of a few individuals, Keane is one of Everton’s longest-serving current players. After all, he was signed in 2017 for a club record-equalling £30 million as part of Ronald Koeman’s apparent revolution. 221 games later, he stays, despite a difficult stint at Goodison Park that included amazing streaks of form, some magnificent goals, and some truly catastrophic errors. Jordan Pickford was also signed during the same summer, albeit barely a month earlier, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin transferred to Merseyside in 2016.
Naturally, none of these compare to Seamus Coleman, who has made 424 appearances in royal blue since joining in 2009. The only other rival to Keane’s longevity is Idrissa Gana Gueye, who had to take a three-year vacation after joining in 2016, departing for Paris Saint-German, and returning in 2022.
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