Ukrainian defender of Everton Vitaliy Mikolenko answered questions regarding the end of the current season in an interview with the club’s press service.
— 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!