Röhl Discusses Tactics & 'Crazy' Support In Villa Victory

Merlin Röhl says Everton’s outstanding away victory over Aston Villa was down to both a “perfect” tactical plan, as well as a the “crazy” support from the travelling Toffees at Villa Park.

Heading into Sunday’s contest, the hosts had won 11 consecutive Premier League home matches.

But Everton – still without a host of absent first-teamers – produced a gritty away display, edging ahead through Thierno Barry’s delicately dinked finish just before the hour mark.

Speaking after the 1-0 victory, midfielder Röhl told evertontv: “[I’m] happy about the team performance, happy about every person that gave 100 per cent today, happy about our plan against the ball and with the ball.

“I think we were very well prepared for the match-up. They needed to work hard for every possession in the middle of the pitch and that was the plan.

“I think we had the perfect plan in the middle of the pitch to go one-on-one pressing and leave one [number eight] sometimes to the centre-back, so that was a really good plan.” 

Röhl marked a 10^th Premier League appearance – and just his second start – by featuring for the full 90 minutes on Sunday.

He was particularly impressed by Everton’s away support, outlining how the 3,000-strong travelling contingent made a difference in helping the team claim all three points.

Only table-topping Arsenal have more away wins (six from 11) this season than Everton (five from 11).

“I think the away fans have a really big impact,” continued Röhl. “I'm not used to it, that the away fans are so many people and so loud. I really love that. Every tackle we made, every sprint you got, or good action, you got very nice feedback, and I love that. 

“Yeah, it's crazy for me. I really love the support. I love the shouting and all the pushing you can feel in every action. 

“They're really, like, crazy into football and I love that. I love to fight on the pitch, I love to run and I love to get feedback for the actions. 

“That makes me happy when the supporters are happy and you can feel today that they’re pretty happy about the result and our team performance and that's what we are looking for every game.

“I think we're a good team now and try to look on to the next games and do even better.”

The magnitude of the victory against a high-flying Aston Villa means it’s the kind of result that can breed further belief within the Everton squad, says Röhl, who added:“I think I really like the confidence of the players and the manager when you go into games like this because nobody is afraid to play against such a good team. 

“We always believe in ourselves and then you have the supporters as well and that's why we, of course, get a lot of confidence from games like this and [we’ll try to show that in] the next games.”