Mirallas looking to hit double figures

Michael Kenrick , 7 November, 16comments | Jump to most recent

Blues' biggest goal provider hopes to score 10 himself

Kevin Mirallas, Everton's leading goal provider so far this season, has set himself a 10-goal target for his first campaign in English football.

After announcing his arrival with two goals on his full debut against Leyton Orient in the League Cup, Mirallas is now making a big impact in the Premier League after attaining full fitness and adjusting to life in England.

“I think at the moment I have more assists than I have goals,” he said.

“I've provided one or two decent passes for my colleagues to score, but at the same time I'm hoping to continue to improve in front of goal and I think 10 goals is a reasonable target for my first season.

“If I can manage 10 goals this season then that would be decent.”

The 25 year-old laid on international team-mate Marouane Fellaini's first goal in the 2-2 draw at Fulham at the weekend meaning that Mirallas has been involved in the creation of six goals for Everton already this season, which tops even Steven Pienaar.

The Belgian admits that creating chances is a part of the game that seems to come naturally to him but having reliable finishers in the box also helps.

“It's a part of the game I'm not bad at and my delivery is quite good,” he said.

“Sometimes it's easier to supply the pass for a goal than to add that finishing touch, especially when you have lads in the middle of the quality of Nikica Jelavic and Marouane,” he added.

“It encourages you to put crosses in when you have players like that in the middle.”

Quotes or other material sourced from Liverpool Daily Post

Reader Comments (16)

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James Martin
1 Posted 07/11/2012 at 16:02:14

Another example of Moyes's genius in the transfer market.

Downing — £20 million,
Adam Johnson — £10 million,
Milner — £20+ million,
Mirallas — £5.5 million.

Genius.

Karl Masters
4 Posted 07/11/2012 at 16:58:23

'Greek Star'? I thought he was Belgian!

Great player though, I bet Wenger is gutted he chose us.

Christopher Kelly
6 Posted 07/11/2012 at 17:14:52

LOL Karl. His coming here has really helped us psychologically to compete with the big boys I think. Good for both, he wanted to play and we needed a "win" over a top 4 side on a transfer. Moyes' pitch of a new style of playing probably helped seal the deal as well.

One issue I have that will be quickly forgotten with a few goals is the boys overshooting. All great scorers need to shoot and here's hoping he can really get on track with his goal scoring/confidence. If the shooting continues to be wayward, remember an assist is still worth a goal young man. AND the goal scorer will usually take you out for a pint afterwards!

Phil Skelton
7 Posted 07/11/2012 at 18:35:43

10 goals should be easy, the form this guys is in! He was running rampant against the RS until Mr Ed deliberately crocked him and I believe he would have notched in the second half. I'm looking forward to the upcoming fixtures to see how many games he will get!!

James Flynn
8 Posted 07/11/2012 at 21:03:24

Can't wait for this "new" team to figure itself out. Score lines will start reflecting our dominance.

Steve Smith
9 Posted 07/11/2012 at 21:11:03

Got to agree with James#493, another great signing who's hit the ground running, the really good thing for us now is that we have quality where it matters most, in the past teams could nulify the threat by trying to man mark our main threat {some sides are still doing this to Jelavic}, all that does now is create space for the likes of Pienaar, Felli and Miralas. Good times at the moment and long may it continue.

Tom Bowers
10 Posted 07/11/2012 at 23:44:32

Not many players come into the Prem from another country and start playing well right off the bat, certainly not at Everton. Fella was very iffy and it was only since halfway through last season that he finally started to prove himself.

Mirallas has been tremendous, much like Jela when he arrived back in January, and between them and Fella the Blues have become transformed as an attacking force.

There still are weaknesses, however; but, if Moyes can fix them soon, then just perhaps Everton may stay up there with the big money clubs.

Pablo Connelly
11 Posted 08/11/2012 at 00:00:44

This lad really has added a new dimension to us. Opposition sides now have so many attacking players to worry about we are almost unplayable. Sooner or later our defense will get back to the third tightest back four of last year and I really can see us going on the run of consecutive wins like we havent seen under Moyes. Its not getting carried away, at the moment I class Pienaar, Baines, Mirrallas and Felliani to be 4 of the best attacking players in the country. Jelavic is a compete striker and will get back in the goals.

Think back to 12 month ago! We couldnt buy a goal. Any team coming to GP knew that 2 banks of 4 would pretty much guarantee a clean sheet. If we defend properly we should be looking at 4 consecutive wins going into the City game. I am including Arsenal in that who I think we will have too much for (injuries and suspensions allowing, unlike the derby). If we manage that we can create a big gap between us and 5th.

Jim Harrison
12 Posted 08/11/2012 at 03:05:22

Great signing, oozes confidence and seems to scare the hell out of defenders. On thing I can really fault an present is his shooting. Needs to pull the trigger a bit sooner, and also hit the target!

Karl Masters
13 Posted 08/11/2012 at 08:40:17

Only small criticism is that sometimes he shoots when a pass would have been a better option. I have noticed Jelavic remonstrating with him a few times when he has shot with Jela waiting for a cut back or a cross.

I see that Saha is saying he wants to score against us this weekend. It would be nice if the new boys showed him what he should have been doing twelve months ago!

Jason Heng
14 Posted 08/11/2012 at 09:18:28

Key point is, can Mirallas backtrack and defend?

GJ Butler
15 Posted 08/11/2012 at 09:48:04

Karl, in fairness to Saha he was asked would he like to open his account for Sunderland against Everton this weekend and he came out with a pretty standard reply. I don't think he rammed anything down Evertonians throats, just answered the question the way I would've expected. Unless he's gone and done another interview on the same subject elsewhere.

Karl Masters
16 Posted 08/11/2012 at 10:43:54

I didn't think that Louis was having a go, GJ. Saha is a player I have a high regard for, but when I think back 12 months to how toothless we were up front ( with Baines as our highest scorer after 3 months of last season ) I can't help but think that some players were either past it or resting on their laurels a bit too much.

In fact, when you consider we have gone from no shots on target ( Stoke last December and Spurs in January ) to regularly having over 20 + shots on target, I think that one lesson I have learnt is that players ( in this instance Saha and Cahill in particular ) have a shelf life and its been a reminder that there is little room for sentiment if you want to keep the team playing well.

Steve Sweeney
18 Posted 08/11/2012 at 11:20:52

How many times does a player score his first goal
In a goal drought against us.
Saha /Everton 5-1 seems worth a little flutter.

Chris Davies
19 Posted 09/11/2012 at 08:37:07

I can only reiterate what a few have already said. He seems to get himself into good positions and then does something wasteful. Maybe he hasn't yet learnt that, give Jelavić the ball in the area and we will score.

I slightly expected this as I was talking to a guy while I was in Crete this summer and I asked about Mirallas. He said he was a quality player but thought he was a one man team.

He reminds me a lot of Ronaldo when he first came to the Prem (but not quite on the same scale). He didn't turn out too badly though, did he?

Oh, and Steve.
If we're talking betting. I'm going Baines 6-1 @ 700-1 wish me luck :)

Christopher Kelly
20 Posted 09/11/2012 at 18:23:25

He's probably in the "trying to do too much" category. No fault of his won but the boy wants to light it up (another reason he came here over Arsenal)...

Coming to the Prem is every players dream and you can't fault him for having a lash.

Now's the time to settle and I'm sure Moyes, Jelli and Felli will set him straight and he'll figure it out.

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