Leon Osman proud as he is set to become Everton’s modern era record holder
Leon Osman is on top of the world at the moment following a brilliant display against Fulham on his 300th Premier League appearance for the club and he has David Unsworths Modern era record in his sights. Unsworth made 303 Premier League appearances for the blues and Osman admits that he has had it in his sights for quite a while.
He said: “It’s something I’m very proud of. If I’m being honest once I got to 280 and saw Unsy’s record was in sight I thought it would be great if I could get there. I’ll savour it. Making my 300th appearance against Fulham was a big marker and hopefully I can get a few more and get up there.
“It would be something I’d take a lot of satisfaction from. We’ve had some terrific players playing for this club over the past 21 years in the Premier League era.
“To be close to making the most for Everton is something very special. It’s not something I was aiming for when I got into the first team. Back then it was just about playing football.
“But as I’ve ticked along I’ve managed to keep myself in the team and if I do manage to pass it, it’s something that will stay with me.”
Osman has been boosted by Everton manager Roberto Martinez’s comments this week after the blues boss described Osman as a “bright, bright footballer” and insisted that he should still haave a part to play in the England set up.
“It was nice to hear that from the manager,” he said. “I think I probably am a thinking player more than anything else.
“It’s quite obvious I’m not the tallest or the fastest so you’ve got to find another way to compete at this level. I try and out-think the opposition.
“I would expect it to be a different type of game at the Liberty Stadium.
“Our manager is a clever guy and so is Michael Laudrup. They both like to try and out-pass the opposition and dominate the game with the ball.
“We don’t expect it to be a physical tussle but more a battle to see who can dominate that ball.”
Speaking about Everton’s season, Osmas was optimistic and said that the range of players and styles that Everton have now will help them to break teams down but says that the next three or four games will be crucial.
“If you want to be a good team towards the top of the league you need options; whether it’s different players or a different system because now and then you will come up against a side which has out-thought you,” he said.
“Now we have a team full of players who can unlock doors. Three or four years ago probably you could say our left side was the key to opening defences.
“We’ve progressed from that now and we can score a goal from anywhere at the minute.
“It’s probably great for the press at the moment to be judging the league week for week, especially the way it’s going.
“But realistically we look at every three or four games and then look at the table, because it fluctuates so much game to game. You need to take stock monthly and evaluate it that way.
“There’s some way to go yet.”
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