Michael Keane has voiced his frustration at Everton’s poor performance against Burnley last weekend.
The Toffees were expected to bounce back from consecutive defeats to Chelsea and Arsenal with a win on Saturday.
Instead, David Moyes’ side failed to create many clear-cut opportunities and settled for a 0-0 draw against the relegation battlers.
Keane has now identified exactly what went wrong for Everton against Burnley, which the players must improve against Nottingham Forest.
How are these decisions constantly going against Everton? 😡
“The referee’s call of no penalty to Everton was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Anthony’s arm was in a justifiable position, with the ball coming from close proximity.”
Official Premier League response to Everton penalty call.
Michael Keane demands more from Everton vs Nottingham Forest
It is acceptable for Everton to concede possession to the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal, but that should not happen against Burnley.
Even away from home, the Toffees have more than enough quality to dominate the ball against the newly promoted side.
However, Everton had only 46 percent possession in their 0-0 draw with the Clarets, as attacking moves consistently broke down.
Keane has since criticized the players’ passing during Saturday’s game and does not want it to be an issue again on Tuesday.
“I thought we played pretty poorly – I don’t think we ever really got into our rhythm from the first minute,” he told Everton TV.
“Burnley made it difficult for us with the way they pressed, but we needed to show a bit more bravery on the ball, try to pass it a bit more, try to control the game a bit better, and we never really did that.
“We never really had that sustained pressure where we created lots of chances, so it was tough. I think the only positive is we kept a clean sheet and got a point in the end.”
Keane added that Everton’s away form has generally been good, so he expects a better showing in possession against Forest.
“[The clean sheet] is one positive, I wouldn’t say it’s something to build on, because I think we’ve got a lot to improve on going into the Forest game,” he continued. “There’s so much we can do better, and so much we need to do better.
“We’ve been really good away from home, to be fair, so far this season, and we’ve passed the ball a lot better than what we did [against Burnley], so that’s something we need to get back to.”
Is David Moyes too negative? 🤔
Michael Keane claims Everton let their fans down vs Burnley
Keane was so disappointed with Everton’s performance against Burnley that he felt sorry for the away fans at Turf Moor.
He admitted that the Toffees players “let them down” by not getting on the ball more against weaker opposition, but they have an opportunity to put things right against Forest.
“We want a reaction,” Keane said. “I know we didn’t lose [against Burnley], but it kind of feels that way with the performance, so hopefully we can react, prepare in these next couple of days, and put in a good performance against Forest.
“The fans here are always amazing, especially when you think about this time of year as well. They follow us everywhere we go, no matter what, and sell out every away section.
“We know it’ll be the same again at Forest and we want to give them something more to cheer about because I think [at Burnley] we let them down a little bit, so we want to put on a performance and send them home happy.”
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