Ukrainian defender of Everton Vitaliy Mikolenko answered questions regarding the end of the current season in an interview with the club’s press service.
Vitaliy Mikolenko— What are your feelings four rounds before the end of the English championship?
— Everything is good, we are already safe (currently, "Everton" is in 15th place in the EPL table, — ed.) and we are not thinking about the relegation zone. This is good because the last three years have been difficult for me and our team. Now I feel much better.
— David Moyes has come, and it feels like since his arrival everything has improved significantly for Everton. What is life like under him?
— The first few weeks were tough because everything was different. But now everything is good, as you can see in the table. We are in a good position and, in my opinion, playing much better than in the last two years. I think our fans are happy and enjoy watching our football.
— What is it like to be a defender under David Moyes (the head coach of "Everton", — ed.)? What does he want from you?
— Everything is good, very good. He wants me to constantly join the attacks and always says that I have not just one job on the field, but two or three. I try to be the best not only in defense but also in attack. I enjoy playing in attack, and now I am working on this with the coaching staff.
— What is it like to play alongside a goalkeeper like Jordan Pickford?
— Sometimes he can be very angry! But he is a really good guy both on the field and in the locker room. He is a good guy, and you can ask him anything. On the field, I think we have a good connection, we know how to interact with each other.
— Next up is a match against Ipswich. What do you think about this game?
— I expect that we will have more ball possession, especially since this is our home match. We need to try to score as many goals as possible.
— Where does the motivation come from now — when Ipswich knows they are out of the EPL, and Everton knows they are safe?
— I have the motivation to be the best on the field every week. I remember three years ago we played against Watford, who were already out of the EPL, but it was a tough game because we needed the three points, and they were very relaxed and did whatever they wanted.
So we are expecting a tough game. It can be dangerous to play against a team that is already out of the tournament.
Translation and stylistic adaptation — Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink is mandatory!
