Michael Ball shares what he loved in Everton v Tottenham even if it does not ‘look great’
Former Everton player Michael Ball had no issue with Amadou Onana and Nathan Patterson having a row with one another during the defeat to Tottenham on Saturday (23 December).
The two teammates were shown having a heated argument at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as the Toffees saw a four-match winning run in the Premier League ended by a 2-1 loss.
Ball, though, thinks that the players should be commended for trying to hold each other to higher standards.
Writing for the Liverpool Echo (26 December), he commented: “The other positive I believe we should take from the weekend, and this might surprise a few people, is the fact that Amadou Onana and Nathan Patterson had a row on the pitch.
“It was clear to see that both players expected better from each other. And I have no problem with either of them telling each other what they think.
“Yes, it doesn’t look great, but should we really be knocking players for showing passion? I certainly don’t think we should.
“Also, for me, this was another example of the standards that continue to be set. They have been upped in recent weeks, and it is clear they will continue to rise.”
Just don’t cross the line…
It is an interesting take from Ball here and…well, actually I think it is a good take.
Look, you do not want to teammates falling out on the pitch, mainly because you do not want to be in a position during the game where you are losing and the players feel the need to tear strips off each other.
But there are inevitably going to be times where standards fall a little short and you absolutely want to see players letting each other know if they think they are falling short of those standards.
There does, though, need to be a line that they cannot cross. Yes drive the standards high, yes call each other out if things are not going well, but just make sure it all stays in the spirit of trying to achieve the same common goal.
We all remember that time Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer started scrapping on the pitch for Newcastle United, that’s what we definitely do not want to see at Everton.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are set to hold January talks with Arnaut Danjuma.