Ball: Everton star was ‘naive’
Everton midfielder Fabian Delph got a bit of a frosty reception last weekend when he came onto the pitch against Brighton & Hove Albion.
That was because of his infamous social media activity after the Merseyside derby defeat to neighbours Liverpool the week before that, of course.This
The England international needs to get his head down now and focus on winning back the fans’ favour through his performances on the field of play.
That’s certainly the view of former Toffees defender Michael Ball: “Fabian Delph showed his frustration last week. He was probably naive in responding to that supporter on social media,” he wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“Probably, back in my day, it was totally different and there wasn’t a social media world going on – but it would be like me losing a derby and then going out to the pub and talking to fans.
“Now that social media is out there, Delph has probably shown his frustration, said things he shouldn’t have said and got himself involved. In turn, some Everton fans showed their displeasure at the weekend through a selection of boos when he was brought onto the pitch against Brighton.”
“You come to Everton Football Club to take us to another level. We don’t want players at the club, and I’m not singling out anyone here, who feel they’re doing us a favour.
“I think he probably understands now that he could have switched his phone off, had a look in the mirror about his own performance, dissect it in training as a team, and figure out what went wrong to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Is Ball correct in his assessment?
This seems like a pretty fair look at the situation. Ball’s right, social media makes suffering defeats much more difficult for players now than it did back in his day.
However, all that means is that players need to be more switched on nowadays. Delph should have known better than to get involved with fans after a big derby loss.
He can get the supporters back onside, though, but good performances are crucial to that. He must deliver the goods in the coming months.
In other Everton news, a Toffees striker has reportedly rejected two moves away from the club this month.