Marco Silva, Sean Dyche, Tom Cairney, Bernd Leno and Harry Wilson look ahead to Saturday's season opener at Goodison Park.
Marco Silva
I know what it means as well to play the first away match of the season at Goodison, the environment that is going to be there, the support for the home team as well, and it’s a very good challenge for us. We have to play at our best level, we have to be really competitive. We are going to play against a physical, really physical team, you can see the size, the aggressiveness – of course in the right way – that they play, and we have to reach a certain type of standards, and when we have the ball we have to express ourselves.
Sean Dyche
We all know it was a very strong season for [Fulham] last season, they did very well. Obviously at the end of pre-season you’re never quite sure, equally they won’t be sure about us either, we’ll wait and see, but they had a very strong season last season. They’ve still got some very good players, so we have to be ready for every challenge, and we’ve learnt that. That’s something the club’s learnt over the last couple of seasons – there’s absolutely no gimmes in the Premier League. It’s something I’ve been preaching for many, many years, so you have to be ready for everyone, whether it’s the first game or the last game, you have to be ready.
Bernd Leno
It’s a tough place, a good atmosphere. I have to say I really like to play there. Last season we had a very good game, won 3-1, so we go there with zero fear, we go there to dominate the game, to play our game and not just park the bus in front of the goal and hope for a corner or whatever. That’s how we prepare for that game.
Tom Cairney
Any game away from home, first day of the season, is difficult. Especially at a team like Everton with a good atmosphere, they’ll want to get off to a good start, especially after just surviving relegation last season. It will be hard but, at the same time, we won last season, we’ve got good memories. If we play how we can play, we can make it difficult for them and hopefully come away with three points.
Harry Wilson
I like stadiums where fans are close to the pitch and you can hear the away support. Sometimes you get stadiums that have maybe got a track around them or [the fans] are a bit far away, you don’t always hear the support or it doesn’t feel as big. But Goodison Park’s one of those grounds where the atmosphere always feels good, and I’m sure the away end will be bouncing.
