Phil Jagielka is impressed with his lack of yellow cards
This year has gone brilliantly well for Phil Jagiielka and he is delighted. He helped England reach the World Cup finals in Brazil and following the departure of Phil Neville to the Manchester United coaching staff, he also took on the mantle of Everton captain, helping Everton to 5th in the table and performances that have seen the centre back not pick up one yellow card.
The remarkable achievement is backed up by his centre back partner Sylvain Distin who has only picked up 2 yellow cards, the same amount as the whole of last year. Jagielka told EvertonTv: “It’s a case of deciding when and when not to go for the ball.
“You need to impose yourself on the game, but at the same time that doesn’t mean going into the back of a striker or midfielder and giving silly free-kicks away.
“It’s not that I don’t tackle but to a certain extent it’s difficult these days to play with a yellow card on your head, especially at the back with the pace of the game – it can be so hectic.
“So I prefer not to get booked. Then at least if something does go wrong during a game and you do have to make a borderline challenge, at least you have ‘one life’ left, so to speak.”
“We talk about that a lot and I don’t think Sylvain gets booked much either,” said the England international.
Jagielka went on to comment on the big Frenchman
“Sylv’s a big strong boy too, so it’s about timing, and knowing how hard to go in too.
“The way the game is these days, it doesn’t take a lot to get a booking. You just need to use your head.
“I take a little bit of pride in it and I take a bit of stick as well when the lads rib me for not getting so many bookings.
“It was something the previous manager worked on, and this manager is also keen to avoid us giving away set-pieces – especially on the edge of the area.
“If you do give away a lot of those, it’s the area on the pitch where a defender usually get booked.”
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