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Post by Everton News. on May 4, 2021 13:37:17 GMT
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Post by Everton News. on May 15, 2021 19:58:54 GMT
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Post by Everton News. on May 15, 2021 20:00:28 GMT
James Rodriguez is set to be fit and available for Everton’s Premier League clash with Sheffield United at Goodison Park on Sunday (7pm BST).
The Colombian playmaker resumed full training at USM Finch Farm on Friday, having been sidelined for the Blues’ past three games with a calf injury.
James’ return for Sunday’s crunch contest represents a significant boost for boss Carlo Ancelotti. The former Real Madrid player has scored six goals and provided nine assists for the Blues in 25 appearances this season.
James’ countryman Yerry Mina will not be ready for Sunday’s match, however, as he continues his recovery from a minor adductor problem.
Speaking on Wednesday, Ancelotti described the defender’s injury as a “really small” issue. He added if Mina was not fit to face the Blades, he should be in contention for Everton’s home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 19 May.
Meanwhile, Blues boss Ancelotti has saluted Ben Godfrey’s “fantastic” qualities as the defender continues to enjoy an exceptional debut season at Everton.
The 23-year-old’s consistently high-class performances have seen him tipped by some observers as a potential candidate for England’s European Championships squad.
Ancelotti says Godfrey’s athleticism, versatility and tactical awareness mark him out as a standout talent.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Sheffield United, which you can watch in full in the video above or here, Ancelotti said: “I have to say his season was really good.
“He showed fantastic quality and defensive ability. He is really fast and really intelligent. It is difficult to find him out of position. I am really pleased and surprised for his season. He was a fantastic signing in the summer.
“The best quality he has is his speed. He is really fast and really aggressive without the ball, tactically he is good and he can play all the positions in defence without any problem.
“He has changed position – he played left-back, right-back and centre-back – and every time he did well. I am really satisfied.
“I don’t know if he will go to the Euros. It is not my decision. I have only to say he has been a fantastic player this season.
“England has very good defenders. Against Aston Villa [in Thursday’s 0-0 draw], Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa were really good, they are top defenders.
“And I have to say Michael Keane also did a fantastic performance in that game. The fact both teams didn’t score was because of the good performance of the defenders.”
Everton FC
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Post by Everton News. on May 15, 2021 20:10:29 GMT
CALVERT-LEWIN COMMITTED TO 'MAKING HISTORY' WITH EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin says he is wholly committed to Everton’s bid for glory under Carlo Ancelotti and wants to “go down in history” at Goodison Park.
Striker Calvert-Lewin’s goals inspired an exhilarating start to the campaign when Everton won seven straight matches.
Talking to Everton’s matchday programme for Sunday’s meeting with Sheffield United, Calvert-Lewin admitted supporters’ reaction to that perfect beginning remained at the front of his mind.
The 24-year-old Englishman, who was “underwhelmed” by the response of social media companies to the recent boycott of social platforms, is contracted to Everton until at least June 2025.
He has 25 goals for Club and country this season and insists his ambitions on the former front belong exclusively with Everton.
“Absolutely,” asserted Calvert-Lewin. “As a club we have not achieved for a long time.
“To be one of the players in this squad to win a trophy, to win a league, would be massive.
“You would go down in history, at a club with a very rich history, which is striving to be back up there.
“For me, it is that personal connection with Everton and the raw emotion winning for this club brings.”
Calvert-Lewin scored 10 goals in his opening seven games this term as a team buoyed by new recruits James Rodriguez, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure captured fans’ imaginations.
Spirit of the Blues topped the UK iTunes chart and the first shoots of Ancelotti’s evolving Everton were apparent.
Everton are in the European argument with three Premier League games remaining and the Italian manager expects to strengthen this summer.
“I have been thinking about that [perfect start and fans’ response] all season,” says Calvert-Lewin.
“When I have been scoring goals and we’ve been winning games, it’s felt like, ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for, this push, this squad, this manager’.
“The new stadium is under way, and to have Carlo Ancelotti guiding and leading us, you couldn’t ask for more.
“All that has been missing is the fans, the passion they bring rubs off on us players.
“Everything is in place for us to move into that top-six category.
“But it is down to us to turn our ambitions into reality.”
Calvert-Lewin uses social media as a vehicle to engage with supporters, sharing insight into an engaging and unaffected personality.
He intermittently deletes the various platforms, however, reasoning that extended periods on Twitter and Instagram aren't conducive to general wellbeing.
Football was joined by multiple sporting bodes in a three-day social media boycott from 30 April.
Raheem Sterling of Manchester City, the former Nottingham Forest and England striker Stan Collymore, and Rabbi Matondo, the Manchester City winger on loan at Stoke City, were all racially abused online shortly after the boycott.
“It is like Groundhog Day,” said Calvert-Lewin.
“We can have these boycotts all we want but they are just that unless there is action to go with it.
“I was slightly underwhelmed by it.
“It is all well and good having a weekend’s social media boycott but what happens when it is Monday morning and people are being racially abused again or receiving general online abuse?
“Until people are held accountable for words they type into their keyboards, things are not going to change.
“It is more deep-rooted than, ‘Right, everybody stop being racist, everybody stop abusing people online’.
“I am not a politician, I don’t have all the answers.
“But I believe more can be done higher up [in Government], and higher up in social media companies, to counteract this.
“There will be victims until true changes are made.”
Calvert-Lewin continued: “I use social media sparingly.
“I go through periods when I take the app off my phone to have a break from it.
“For your general health, it is not good to be on it too much.
“I like to try to live in the real world, in my real world.
“You have a good game and people tell you how good you are.
“You have a bad game and it is the other extreme.
“How do you read that all the time and have balance?”
Purchase an Everton v Sheffield United matchday programme to read the full exclusive interview with Dominic Calvert-Lewin .
Paul McNamara / Everton FC
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Post by Everton News. on May 15, 2021 20:33:56 GMT
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