Here are your Everton morning headlines for Monday, 14 September.
Rodriguez barely trained ahead of debut
Everton got their 2020/21 season off to a fantastic start with a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti included all three of his summer signings in his starting line-up, and they all made their presence felt.
James Rodriguez was perhaps the most impressive of the trio in light of how little he had in terms of a pre-season campaign. His sessions at Finch Farm last week were the full extent of his summer training.
And despite this lack of preparation, the Colombian impressed the Everton boss yesterday. “He did four days of training and his performance was outstanding,” said Ancelotti. “This is what he can do on the pitch.”
Tottenham win sends message of intent
Everton will be hoping that their win yesterday can provide the catalyst for a much better campaign away from Goodison Park in 2020/21.
The Blues only won five of their 19 away games in the Premier League last season, giving them the seventh worst record on the road in the division.
They also failed to win at the homes of any club who finished in the top eight, picking up just one draw to go with seven defeats, so to get three points at Tottenham was a step firmly in the right direction.
Ancelotti was rightly delighted with the performance of this team.
"We were comfortable with the ball and comfortable without the ball. In the end, it was a deserved win,” he said after the game.
Did Hojbjerg make the wrong choice?
Whenever a player is linked with a transfer move, it’s inevitable that more than one club is reported to be interested in signing them.
That was certainly the case this summer for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Both Everton and Tottenham were hoping to strengthen their midfield by signing the Dane from Southampton.
He chose the latter, but it was the Blues who had the last laugh yesterday as their new-look midfield comfortably outshone the efforts of Jose Mourinho’s side.
This and other aspects of Everton’s brilliant 1-0 win are analysed here .
