Blues defender Axel Disasi is the subject of the interview in tonight’s match day programme for Everton.
The 5-cap French international has split fan opinion since joining the club from Monaco for around £40m last summer.
Personally I think it’s pretty simple, he’s not really a ball-playing possession defender, but mostly he is very good defensively. Not all the time, but mostly.
I think he’s a decent squad rotation player when we (if we ever) have a fully fit squad and wouldn’t start when (if) we do.
But one thing I have enjoyed is his attitude and strong mentality, and that is what he has been speaking about in his latest interview in the programme notes for tonight.
The imposing defender has enjoyed getting to grips with the English game and sets high standards, insisting that he feels strongly about delivering what is expected of him by the fans and by himself every time he goes out onto the pitch.
‘I’m someone who does my thing and I don’t look back or forward, I just live day by day and I just want to do what people expect of me,’ he says.
‘I just want that when people watch me, they see someone who is not afraid to give everything. I’m gladiatorial and that’s how I have built my life and my career. Those are my values. Gladiatorial. Soldier. It’s like this that I built my life and my career and I think that will stay with me all my life, because they are values that I had since I was young.’
The France international also speaks about his admiration for Cole Palmer’s cool head, and then discusses the need to match that characteristic with a touch of fire, something he brings to the pitch in abundance.
‘When you see that Cole can be ice, I would say that I’m more the fire. To be like this, I think it puts an energy into the team and around the stadium also – the fans. I think they like to have this kind of reaction, so I think it’s good to be like this because you can show to the other players that you are feeling the game, that you really live the game.
‘Other players can receive this feeling from you, and then do the same things. So, with this, maybe I can bring two or three players on fire and the more we are like this, the better.
‘It’s the same thing for Cole. He is cold, as we call him, and maybe he can bring this quality to other players around him at the right moments, and then we can find a good balance. Because we need some ice and some heat also, so we can create big things.’
I mean, it’s a roundabout way to say that he’s a warrior, but I do like the sentiment and message behind this. We have lacked these types of personalities in our squad, and I can see why they wanted to add Disasi to it last summer, purely for his attitude and strong mentality.
I love how he celebrates a match-winning tackle or a team mate scoring a winning goal, these are the kind of scenes that fans want to see and that is how you create a connection with them at your new club. He’s a golden example to other players and the type of efforts that fans want to see.
If you are giving it all you’ve got, you’re bleeding blue for the badge, and you leave everything out on the pitch every every time you step out there, then 9 times out of 10 the fans are going to love you. And the fans have certainly taken to Disasi, at least on that side of things.
I think many have doubts about his ability and in possession, and that’s also completely fair and I share those real doubts.
I don’t think he starts if Wesley Fofana is fit, and also we are going to be looking to sign a new centre back in the next transfer window, so I don’t think he starts anywhere near as much as he has been this season. But he certainly has the kind of personality that I like and we need more of. If he’s happy to be a rotation/competition option, then I’d be more than happy for him to stay at our club, because he really does get it, and we certainly need more fire in this young squad.
