“Chilled” Alex Iwobi claims he never loses any sleep over a football game but the Evertonians who surround him – even around his home in Manchester – have left him in no doubt over the importance of this Sunday’s survival showdown against Bournemouth.
For the third time in their history, Everton go into the final day of the season with their Premier League status on the line. Unlike when they stayed up in 1994 and 1998, their fate remains in their own hands with Sean Dyche’s side knowing that if they can secure a victory it will be enough to avoid a first relegation in 72 years regardless of what rivals Leeds United and Leicester City do in their games at home to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United respectively.
Despite the high-pressure stakes, Iwobi appears relaxed as he prepares for a potentially career-defining game for himself and his team-mates. Others have spent months tossing and turning over the Blues’ fate, waking up in the dead of night with the issue on their mind or rising early because they just can’t settle but the when asked if he thinks he’ll have any problems sleeping on the eve of the big game, the 27-year-old said: “No never – never! I will get to sleep early before the game, prepare right, no problem.
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“There will be others in dressing room who won’t be like that. Everyone is different, but I hope everyone gets enough rest for the game because we are going to need energy, so everyone do what they need to do to get to bed early.”
Perhaps Dyche could do with a few more characters like Iwobi within the group because the Nigerian international reckons there isn’t any football scenario that would actually make him nervous and if he does put a foot wrong, it just makes him more determined to rectify it straight away. He said: “I’m chilled, yeah. It’s not in my nature.
“I always like to prove a point. I’ll use an example – against Leicester when I made that mistake, I wanted to make a point. I was lucky enough to get a goal and help the team, I want to do as well as I can.
“I was just frustrated that I’m not helping my team and it’s caused a goal. So I am just making sure, especially at half time I’m thinking ‘I just need to put it right’, give my best to put it right. That’s my mindset, and I was lucky enough to do so and get the equaliser.
“I don’t think we’ll be distracted by focusing on any other game, because on the day as long as we get the result and get the win, it doesn’t really matter about any of the other results. So that will be our focus.”
Indeed, not all of Iwobi’s Everton team-mates could stomach tuning into Leicester City’s game at Newcastle United but he sat down to watch and was pleased with the final outcome which ensured the Blues remained masters of their own destiny, even if there were a few uncomfortable moments late on when the visitors almost snatched a smash-and-grab win. He said: “I watched it to be fair, it was a crazy, crazy game especially towards the end.
“When Castagne had that shot, I was thinking: ‘woah’. It was a mad game.
“At first I am thinking Newcastle have had so many chances and are struggling to score, it can’t be one of those games. When Castagne had the shot I was thinking no way.
“Nick Pope saved it and it almost fell to one of their players, I was just thinking, ‘oh no, I don’t want it to be one of those games where it goes to the last match of the season and it is out of our hands.’ The fact that it is still in our hands makes it good for us, we are in the best position of the three teams.”
Iwobi’s relaxed approach is down to his individual character rather indifference though and in any case he’s always got a legion of Evertonians around him to remind him of just what the team’s survival in the Premier League means to so many loyal but long-suffering supporters of the club. He said: “I live in Manchester but my neighbours are Everton fans. If I am walking my dogs, they always say: ‘Come on, you can’t go down.’
“My gardener is an Everton fan, too. Coming into training today, he just said: ‘We’ll do it, we’ll do it.’ I was driving off like: ‘Yes I’m sure we’ll do it.’
“It amazes me how many Everton fans are around. Everton is a big club.
“You can be out minding your business and you see fans and they are so lively and energetic for the club. It just makes me feel like it is a privilege and an honour to represent such a big club.
“It shows me who I am doing this for. I am not just doing it for people here, I am actually talking to people and it affects them and if Everton go down they will be devastated.
“It shows how much Everton means to them. If I am not doing this for myself, then at least let me do it for them.”
When it comes to a real pep talk about the Blues though, Iwobi need look no further than his club captain Seamus Coleman who continues to be the vocal leader within the dressing room even if an injury suffered at the King Power Stadium at the start of the month cruelly prevented the Irishman from playing any further part in the run-in. The Nigerian international said: “One thing about us, and Seamus always reminds us, is that we can only focus on ourselves and not listen to outside noise.
“The manager says the same thing, prepare for the game the same way as you prepared all the other games. Everyone is focused and ready for the game.
“Seamus has been hobbling around on his crutches, coming into the changing room and trying to keep us motivated. He is basically Everton.
“He is always cheering us on and we can see what it means to him. So we are fighting for everyone at Everton to make sure we stay in the Premier League.
“He is always reminding us how so many people are affected by our results and what it means to Evertonians, to him, the people upstairs, the staff and what it should mean to us. He always reminds us that the least we can do is put 100% in.
“The last talk he gave was before the Wolves game. He will 100% speak to us before Bournemouth. He will probably talk before the game and that will definitely kick us off.”
Everton’s players are set to be hit by a wall of noise when they take to the field against the Cherries but as one of the group who responds positively to the encouragement of the crowd, Iwobi thrives on such support and insists he’s ready to take on the responsibility of finishing the task at hand.
He said: “When Goodison Park is electric, we feel it on the pitch. Everyone is probably doing that extra bit of running, moving that extra mile to make a tackle.
“We definitely feel it when they are chanting, we say things to each other on the pitch. We are going to need that good atmosphere again, definitely.
“When we are on the bus, coming into the game, and you can see them chanting, banging the bus. You definitely feel it, almost as if you are going into war.
“You are fighting for something. At Arsenal, you were fighting to play in the Champions League or the Europa League final, just fighting for something.
“The same way now, we are fighting to stay in the Premier League. They are still big games.
“It’s different circumstances but you are still fighting. It’s not necessarily a different pressure, not for me.
“You go into every game and you want to win. If you win, you achieve something. If you won at Arsenal, it meant you would get into the Champions League. If we win this game, we stay in the Premier League.
Iwobi added: “We don’t ever want to be in it again but it would still be a good feeling. We didn’t want to be in that position last year but we still celebrated like it was a cup final.
“That’s how much it means to us and how much it means to Everton. It’s been a hard season, at least let us have the reward of staying in the league. I can’t lie. I think we will celebrate it a bit, even if it is just a release of the pressure.
“We don’t want that history where Everton go down and it is all on us. It is not going to happen on our names – that is what we are trying to make sure doesn’t happen.”
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