Neal Maupay makes Everton admission as supporters made life ‘difficult’ at Goodison Park
Neal Maupay has lifted the lid on his time with Everton and has suggested that people at the club including supporters made his life difficult at Goodison Park.
The Frenchman joined the ranks on Merseyside under Frank Lampard last season but had a miserable first campaign with the Toffees only finding the net twice in all competitions as Everton narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season.
Now on loan with Brentford, the 27-year-old has admitted that he was nowhere near at his best during his time with the Toffees and has partly blamed the fans for making it one of the hardest periods of his career.
As quoted by Sky Sports (22 November) he said: “As a striker, you need confidence, you need to score goals and I didn’t. I scored in my second game at Goodison and I thought it could be a good season, but for multiple reasons, it didn’t work out.
“I didn’t play much, but when I was on the pitch, I wasn’t the best version of myself. I didn’t find my best form.
“I’m always honest and tell the truth; last season, I didn’t enjoy myself. I didn’t enjoy my football and life up there was tough. The people around the club, the fans, made my life really difficult.”
On your way
Football supporters can be hard to please, but you can quite easily understand Everton fans for being slightly frustrated that their new striker was seemingly unable to buy a goal having arrived for a reasonable fee from Brighton.
Had Maupay been scoring week in and week out at Goodison Park, supporters would have been singing his names from the stands week in and week out, but there was very little in his early appearances to suggest he was worthy of such praise.
Sean Dyche needed to find a way to get his side winning after a difficult start to the campaign and that often left Mauapy in little more than a supporting role from the bench.
While that is never ideal for a player, it seems strange for the Frenchman to be angry with his lack of involvement and also recognise that he was off of the pace last season.
It seems impossible to imagine a world in which the 27-year-old returns to Merseyside at the end of the season after his latest comments. He better hope that Brentford opt to make his loan deal permanent, otherwise, he will get a much harsher welcome when he returns to Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, a report has emerged over what Dyche plans to tell his side in a new team meeting this week