Rio Ferdinand shares fresh Everton relegation admission after Manchester City loss
Everton will need to return to winning ways quickly if they want to avoid relegation this season following their defeat to Manchester City, Rio Ferdinand said.
Sean Dyche’s side were defensively resolute at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday (10 February) but a second-half brace from Erling Haaland ensured that the Champions returned to the top of the Premier League table.
The defeat leaves the Toffees rooted to the Premier League relegation zone for another weekend and while Ferdinand admits there was a lot to encourage Everton against City, he thinks something must change to avoid the drop.
Speaking on TNT Sport on Saturday (10 February, 15:10) he said: “I know teams come here and they think if we get a draw, we’re doing cartwheels out of this place. It’s a difficult place to come and there’s no doubting that.
“The games on your screen there, those are the games where they’re going to have to win and pick up more points if they want to stay up in this league. It’s about taking the positives out of this result, yes they’ve been beaten but two goals by one of the most potent players in football today.
“There are positives to take out of it, the manager has got to frame that in the right way to get ready for that list of games that was on your screen there.”
Sean Dyche and Everton facing relegation head-on
As Ferdinand suggested, there was plenty in Everton’s performance at the Etihad to encourage supporters, whether that be an impressive defensive display from Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski or the fact that Jordan Pickford had very little to do.
But once again, a good performance from the Toffees has not seen Dyche’s side rewarded with three points. This is happening far too often to the Toffees and they need to start transforming performances into results if they want to avoid the drop.
However, Everton have a run of fixtures ahead of them that could define their season, with clashes against Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth littered between a Merseyside derby and a trip to Old Trafford.
If the Toffees want to avoid the drop, they need to get their season up and running. Hopefully, they can build off of the good aspects of their performance on Saturday and start to climb up the table.
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