Journalist in ‘save our season’ message to Everton new boy Beto
Everton have a simple message to “save our season” for new boy Beto, according to Liverpool Echo journalist Connor O’Neill.
Writing for the newspaper’s website (29 August), O’Neill said Beto’s immediate task is to solve the club’s goalscoring woes, a problem that he said is once again being “laid bare” in the early stages of the season.
The Toffees are without a point or a goal from three Premier League matches thus far and have forked out a reported £25.75million (Sky Sports) to bring the Portuguese striker from Udinese.
O’Neill said it is obvious what the plea to Beto will be now he has arrived at Goodison Park.
“The Portuguese scored 10 goals in 33 Serie A outings last season, having signed for Udinese last summer following an initial successful loan spell. And given his age and profile, he ticks a lot of boxes in terms of what Kevin Thelwell and the rest of the Everton recruitment team will have been looking for,” he wrote.
“However, the forward will have little time to adapt to life in the Premier League. If anything, the message to Beto from Everton is a simple one: save our season.
“While that may seem a tad dramatic, the way in which Everton’s goal-scoring problems from last season have been laid bare in their opening two home games of this campaign means Beto has no choice but to hit the ground running if fears of a third consecutive battle to avoid relegation to the Sky Bet Championship are to be eased.”
A touch dramatic but…
By his own admission, O’Neill’s comments may seem, at least on the surface, a touch dramatic.
But…
Well, it’s just he does make an excellent point doesn’t he?
We might only be three games into the Premier League season, but – despite huffing, and puffing – Everton have yet to score a goal from three matches this season.
True, their two home fixtures – 1-0 defeats to Fulham and Wolves – showed encouragement (let’s not say too much about the Aston Villa drubbing). The simple fact is, though, they still lost and they still did not score.
In fact, only Wolves scored fewer top-flight goals than Everton last season. They now, finally, have a new striker in the door. They need him fit and firing, because if he doesn’t then another relegation battle could certainly be on the cards.
The pressure is on Dyche too, of course. He needed backing, well now he’s been backed with a new striker. He simply has to get the best of his new man.
In other Everton news, Wolves have beaten the Toffees again – this time reportedly for a midfield target.