Merlin Rohl spoke about finding his feet in the Premier League after Everton's 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur
Everton’s latest signing Merlin Rohl admits that he and his Blues team-mates are going to have to conjure up some goals between them to combat the shortcomings of their striker’s scoring woes.
Tottenham Hotspur inflicted a first-ever defeat for Everton in a competitive match at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday as the 3-0 scoreline ensured David Moyes’ men failed to register for the second straight game while frontmen Beto and Thierno Barry, who cost approximately £55million between them, have netted just once in the Premier League all season. Rohl, who joined the Blues on transfer deadline day on a season-long loan deal from Freiburg with an obligation to buy next summer, came off the bench against Spurs for what was his third substitute appearance.
When it came to improving Everton’s goal output, the 23-year-old believes that everyone needs to chip in. Rohl said: “We all need to work on getting goals and creating more chances. Every player needs to focus on themselves.
“I have to look at my actions as I want to improve for the next game. That’s what everybody needs to do and then we come together as a team for the next game and try to do better.
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“I think I can bring a lot to the team. The focus doesn’t need to be on one position or certain players.
“I think I can fit in different roles and bring different attributes into our team. I like to go forwards with the ball at my feet, I like to go deep, I like to work behind to get the ball to the attacker, so there are a lot of positions and we shouldn’t focus on certain players, thinking: ‘that’s my position and where I want to play.’”
As £100million signing Florian Wirtz has found with neighbours Liverpool, the jump from the German to English top flight can be a big one but the Potsdam-born midfielder is enjoying his early days on Merseyside. Rohl said: “Of course there is a big difference in the playing style between the Bundesliga and Premier League. You can see here that it is more of a fast-paced style and both teams will go in both directions much faster.
“I think for me personally it fits really well. I think I find lots of room for situations where I can show my speed and I’m working to fulfil my potential on the pitch.
“I need to stay calm and train well, trying to improve and we’ll see from game to game.
“I’m pretty happy here to be honest. I really like the league, I like the club, I like the manager and my team-mates.
“I’m full of enjoyment, even after a bad game because I think it’s a great opportunity for me to showcase my abilities because I think the league is a really good fit for me and my physical attributes. I’m trying to show this on the pitch, even though it could take some time.”
Even though the Spurs game was a bad day at the office for Everton, Rohl believes the support of his colleagues and the fans can help drive him on. He said: “The whole team is frustrated and me personally. We expected more in terms of the result, with our build-up and our playing style.
“We had good control over some parts of the game but of course, in the important situations we didn’t make the right moves and conceded goals after set-pieces. We need to get better on this.
“I feel really good. The whole group and the staff welcomed me very nicely, especially the manager.
“He’s working with me very closely. He gave me some minutes on the pitch and then I was out with the injury.
“It’s not normal that you come back and get some minutes so quickly so I’m happy about that and trying to be better in training and in the games.
“The fans were fantastic today. They pushed us in the second half and it’s sad that we didn’t make a goal out of it.
“I really like this about English football how the fans are always cheering us on. It really motivates me to play better.”