Everton: Neal Maupay praised for ‘mentality’ by Sky Sports pundit
After six previous attempts, Everton finally secured their first win of the Premier League season in a nervy encounter with West Ham.
Neal Maupay scored his first goalfor the club after his late summer arrival from Brighton to be the difference on Sunday afternoon to lift Frank Lampard’s outfit all the way up to 13th in the league table.
David Moyes’ Hammers meanwhile are languishing in the drop zone but Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink wasn’t interested in the Irons as he zoned in on his admiration for Maupay.
“What you can say about Maupay is that he misses chances but it doesn’t really affect him,” Hasselbaink said on the Sky Sports Football Podcast.
“He’s got the mentality to go back, at Brighton, he used to miss chances but he kept going back and back and that’s what it is at the end of the day.
“You keep on believing in yourself; he missed a big chance against Liverpool that he needed to score but he is there again, he keeps going and he deserved his goal.”
Talisman
The Frenchman is not a striker who will score every single chance he gets or he wouldn’t be playing for Everton, he’d be at Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
But he does find the net enough to get a handy amount of goals and he is able to create his own chances where necessary which is not easy for any striker.
His quick feet at Goodison Park on Sunday were the difference and he will need to do more of that in the coming fixtures after the international break.
The solid back four has stopped the goals being leaked at the other end so he may only need one to find its way into the net to earn maximum points for his side.
With Anthony Gordon, Alex Iwobi and Demarai Gray there to help him fashion the openings, it could be a very successful season for Maupay and Dominic Calvert-Lewin may struggle to get back in the side.