Michael Keane makes admission over Everton role change in analysis of stunning goal
The Everton defender reflected on his goalscoring prowess after his latest brilliant strike in the Premier League
Everton’s Portman Road hero Michael Keane has explained the secret of his success when it comes to shooting but admits he never seriously considered being a striker. A long-running theme among Blues insiders is that despite being a centre-back, the 31-year-old is one of the best finishers among Sean Dyche’s squad.
Keane had already netted for Everton this season when he’d fired them ahead in the 3-2 home defeat against Bournemouth on August 31 but he doubled his tally for the campaign with an emphatic finish on his weaker left foot to seal a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town who have splashed out over £100million on new players since returning to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years this summer. The spectacular strike, the defender’s 15th in 221 matches for the Blues was celebrated wildly by players and travelling fans alike as it put the team on their way to a first away victory in 10 months.
Keane said: “It was a tough angle, but I knew I could get a good strike on it and that’s all I focused on; trying to hit the roof of the net because I think that’s hard for keepers from that angle. I’m not sure about best finisher at the club but I’d say I’m up there!
“There’s a few who can strike the ball really well and luckily I managed to do that. I think a lot of it is just technique from growing up, coming through and working on all different kinds of finishes – right foot, left foot.
“When you get in those positions, you’ve got to be calm and not rash, I focus on getting a good strike on the ball. It’s important to set yourself and make sure you connect well.”
Keane’s twin brother Will, who he marked in Everton’s 3-0 pre-season friendly win at Preston North End on August 3, is a striker who once scored 27 goals in a season for Wigan Athletic in 2021/22, but the Blues ace admits he was never tempted to either go up front himself on a full-time basis or challenge his sibling to a goal of the season competition. He said: “No, he would have beaten me in that, to be fair. He scored way more than me, but I was a central midfielder.
“I was more out of the box shooting and he was a poacher. But goals are in the family, that’s for sure.
“In terms of being a striker myself, not really, no. It sounds good and I feel like I’d enjoy it, but in reality I’m not sure I could do that role. It’s a really hard role to play and putting chances away is only one part of it. You look at all the work Dom (Dominic Calvert-Lewin) does, there’s no way I could do that.”
As well as the huge bonus of his goal, Keane, who revealed he has been playing through the pain barrier to help the team, was also excellent in his usual defensive role and despite Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton’s breakthrough star of last season, being absent for the past two matches, the team have kept back-to-back clean sheets. He said: “The most pleasing thing is another clean sheet. All the back four were brilliant but me and Tarky (James Tarkowski) defended the box really well.
“There was a lot of headers and doing the basics right, which we didn’t manage to do earlier in the season and it cost us. Just getting back to that and seeing a game through was really important, so it was a good day.
“I’ve always felt competition is good for everyone. If you know you’re going to start every game you can become not lazy but mentally it might take you off it one per cent and you can’t do that in the Premier League so competition is really healthy for everyone.
“I had a bad leg against Leicester but it was alright and I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to play and help the team in any way I can. It was fine.
“A lot of lads play with injuries and get through it. It’s just one of those things.”
After losing their first four games of the season, Everton have now gone unbeaten in their last four with two draws and two wins, this latest one being their first away since they triumphed 2-0 on December 16 at Keane’s previous club Burnley, another match in which he scored. The £25million signing from the Clarets in 2017 explained the turnaround in fortunes and importance of a first success on the road this calendar year as the team look to improve on last season.
Keane said: “The first point and the first win are really important. They get you off the mark and then you start to build confidence.
“We’re four unbeaten now and that momentum keeps growing and growing. The mentality that comes with that in the squad, it makes us feel stronger and gives us more confidence to come to places like this and put on a performance.
“I thought we controlled the game and passed it really well. In the last 15, we sat off a bit and tried to see the game through, but a lot of the game we passed it really well and caused them a lot of problems.
“It’s big for our confidence (winning away). We’ve had some decent performances away from home, but not the results.
“To come and win relatively comfortably is really pleasing. Hopefully it kickstarts us feeling more confident away from home and knowing we can put markers down and get results.
“We know the quality we’ve got and we’ve been on a decent run, so we’ve taken confidence from that. We had to start well because they tend to do that at home.
“They had a chance or two, but we managed to ride that storm and the goal settled us down. It ended up a great day.
“Ideally we’d like to beat where we finished last season. We’ve had a tough start but there’s a lot of quality in the team and the manager has been brilliant.
“We haven’t really set any specific targets and are just trying to take it game by game, but we’ll try and do better than last year.”