Fabian Delph has only been at Everton a week and already he is exhausted from the training. The former Manchester City midfielder is not complaining, however, as he prefers to push himself as hard as possible.
“The volume of training is a lot higher here than it was at City, and that’s OK with me,” the 29-year-old said. “We cover a lot more distance, there’s a lot more intensity and you definitely feel like you’ve worked come the end of the day. City’s training is very good, but it’s shorter and sharper and focused on the way the manager likes to play. The ethos is a little different here and I really love it.
“There’s nothing worse in my book than going home with energy left over. I like to go home knowing I’ve put a shift in, feeling that I’ve pushed myself to the max. I’ve been here about a week and I’m going home tired. I am getting a good night’s sleep.”
Delph is probably noticing the difference between training regimes at a club used to keeping hold of the ball and a club that realises it will spend a lot of time in games working hard to win it back.
To an extent he has been signed for his work ethic and his leadership qualities, both of which were evident, indeed amplified, in the dressing down he gave his City teammates after the defeat by Manchester United that put the title celebrations on hold in 2018.
That sweary footage – basically a complaint that City had stopped running and handed their rivals the initiative – was brought to the world via the behind-the-scenes Amazon documentary that City allowed to be broadcast, though the player himself has yet to revisit his starring role.
“I am quite a private person and though I have been told to look at the clip I haven’t watched it back,” he said. “I don’t want to see myself effing and blinding and I’ve got young kids who are probably going to end up seeing it before I do.”
“They have obviously done it for the documentary, it is just one situation, though I do admit to being quite emotional and quite vocal a lot of the time. I was a vocal presence in the dressing room as an 18-year-old at Leeds. I was quite vocal at City last season, even though I hardly played.
“I want everybody including myself to be working just as hard towards the same goal, and if that’s not happening I think it’s only right to voice that opinion instead of going into your shell and not speaking about it.
“People don’t necessarily need to take my criticisms personally, but everyone in a team should want the same thing and I see myself as someone with a bit of experience now who can pass on a few tips and promote good habits to the younger members of the side. I just want everyone I am playing with to be fully switched on, really on it. You don’t have to be the best player in the team to have an effect on the players around you.”
Everton are believed to want Delph as a defensive midfielder, though his exact position will probably depend on what happens to Idrissa Gueye before the end of the transfer window. Delph played most of his games in Pep Guardiola’s first title-winning season as an emergency left-back, and would do so again if necessary.
“I’m not the best left-back in the world but I can play there,” he said. “I think I’ve shown that, and also that whenever I’m asked to do a job I’ll give it 100%.
“I think the [2017-18] season at City is one of the things I’ll look back on with pride at the end of my career. At the start of the season I thought I was on my way out and a lot of people wrote me off. But I stuck at it, even playing in an unfamiliar position. I could have stayed at City, no one forced me to leave, but I felt the time was right to move on after a fantastic three seasons under Pep. It was frustrating being out of the first team for such long periods and I thought I needed a new challenge and more regular football.
“I really enjoy playing for England, I already know some of the lads at Everton through meeting up with the national team, and I believe the more often I play the more chance I have of being selected for England. Pep just thanked me for the three years we had together and wished me all the best for this new adventure.”