Demarai Gray believes the freedom to express himself and the belief of his manager and teammates are the reasons behind his impressive start to life at Everton.
Demarai Gray said “That [consistency] has been my issue over of the past few years. I have a manager here and a team that believe in me and give me the freedom to express myself. I’m enjoying my football again. Everything’s clicked well here. I just want to keep working hard to maintain my level and keep improving. We focused a lot on being compact and disciplined in our shape – and I think we did that. Counter-attacking has probably been our strong point this season. We’re very good on the counter and we work on set-pieces. We’re aware of the speed we’ve got and it paid off. I did my bit, Doucy did his bit, kept composed and played a great pass to Andros. And you couldn’t have wanted it to fall to anyone in better form. He tucked it away and his celebration was a bit mad! It was a great goal. There’s a lot to be excited about this season and I’m pretty sure we’ll score many more goals like that.”
The travelling Everton faithful gleefully burst out Gray’s new chant at Old Trafford as he was replaced in the closing stages. His direct play and pace has earned him plenty of plaudits so far this season and he admits the support his side have received has given them a second wind at times.
Demarai Gray said “I’ve always loved playing away in front of the away fans. They were loud and it’s the same every time we go away. We always travel heavy and they push us through the game. They’ve been top since the start of the season. They give us that second wind and it’s been a great help for us this season.”
During Saturday’s game, Scott McTominay showed a blatant disregard for a possible injury to Lucas Digne, with Everton’s players less than impressed by the move. And Gray has lifted the lid on how his side vowed before the game at Old Trafford to stick together and stand up the challenge.
Demarai Gray said “In the battles we get in, we do it together. No matter what the situation is, we said before the game, we have to be together. We showed that – and I think we got a great point before the international break.”
The Blues completed the signing of Gray from Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year deal back in July after activating his release clause in his contract. He impressed in pre-season and has been instrumental in helping Everton collect 14 points from their opening seven Premier League games of the season. Having helped the Blues beat Southampton on the opening day, Gray has since scored three times and claimed one assist in the top-flight so far this season. The former Leicester City man also played a key role in Andros Townsend’s second-half equaliser that earned his side a deserved point against Manchester United at the weekend. After escaping the attentions of Fred and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Gray then found Abdoulaye Doucoure, who in return teed up Townsend to finish past David de Gea.
