Ross Barkley is one of Everton's talented young players who will be expected to show more consistency in 2015/16. Dave Thompson / Getty Images
Ross Barkley is one of Everton's talented young players who will be expected to show more consistency in 2015/16. Dave Thompson / Getty Images
Ross Barkley is one of Everton's talented young players who will be expected to show more consistency in 2015/16. Dave Thompson / Getty Images
Ross Barkley is one of Everton's talented young players who will be expected to show more consistency in 2015/16. Dave Thompson / Getty Images

Premier League 2015/16 preview: Everton, awash with ability, must practice pragmatism too


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

With the 2015/16 English Premier League season a matter of weeks away, Richard Jolly provides his thoughts on each of the 20 teams and predicts their final league finish. Here he looks at Everton.

After the heady optimism of a wonderful debut year and an acute case of second-season syndrome, the probability is that Roberto Martinez’s third campaign at Goodison Park will neither feature such heights nor such depths. At least Everton’s energy will not be drained by competing in the Europa League, but questions if the team is too old persist. After Tim Howard’s struggles last year, it is a surprise Martinez has not signed a goalkeeper to replace the veteran and he still requires defensive reinforcements. Instead, he has been reunited with Tom Cleverley, posing a question of how the newcomer will be accommodated in the midfield and at whose expense. Ross Barkley, one of last season’s major underachievers, may find himself on the bench. The other signing, Gerard Deulofeu, is another who Martinez has loaned before and who offers entertainment. Everton’s budget means the Spaniard often has to be clever in the transfer market, especially without a windfall. Chelsea may provide one, but by taking the precocious John Stones. So far, Martinez has kept his other coveted talents such as James McCarthy and Romelu Lukaku. Everton possess plenty of ability but they – and their idealist of a manager – have to show sufficient pragmatism, both in defence and in a willingness to countenance direct football now and again.

Key Man: Romelu Lukaku – Everton's record buy scored 20 goals last season, which suggests criticism of him was unfair. But only 10 came in the Premier League and they will require far more now. He is capable of doubling that.

Pivotal Signing: Gerard Deulofeu – A crowd-pleaser with breathtaking skill, the Spaniard was an impact substitute in his first spell at Everton. The challenge is to show the consistency to become a starter now, because he has the talent to flourish.

Crucial Factor: Home form. Everton went three months without a league win at Goodison Park last season, when some of the crowd started to show dissent against Martinez. They only won seven home league games in 2014-15, compared to 13 the previous campaign.

Prediction: 6

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The biog

Siblings: five brothers and one sister

Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota

Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym

Favourite place: UAE

Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera

What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books

Allardyce's management career

Clubs (10) - Limerick (1991-1992), Perston North End (1992), Blackpool (1994-1996), Notts County (1997-1999), Bolton Wanderers (1999-2007), Newcastle United (2007-2008), Blackburn Rovers (2008-2010), West Ham United (2011-2015), Sunderland (2016), Crystal Palace (2016-2017)

Countries (1) - England (2016)

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

BRIEF SCORES

England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)  
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)

Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1

Dr Graham's three goals

Short term

Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines


Intermediate term

Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations


Long term

A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness  

UK’s AI plan
  • AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
  • £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
  • £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
  • £250m to train new AI models
Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

Expert advice

“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”

Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles

“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”

Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre 

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”

Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
 

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%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20loss%20of%20sodium%20chloride%20in%20our%20sweat%20can%20lead%20to%20confusion%20and%20an%20altered%20mental%20status%20and%20slurred%20speech%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EBody%20temperature%20above%2039%C2%B0C%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHot%2C%20dry%20and%20red%20or%20damp%20skin%20can%20indicate%20heatstroke%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EA%20faster%20pulse%20than%20usual%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDizziness%2C%20nausea%20and%20headaches%20are%20also%20signs%20of%20overheating%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIn%20extreme%20cases%2C%20victims%20can%20lose%20consciousness%20and%20require%20immediate%20medical%20attention%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A

The Disaster Artist

Director: James Franco

Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogan

Four stars

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