Super Eagles and Everton FC midfielder Alex Iwobi said he is striving to improve on his game and let his performance do the talking rather than duel on criticism by football fans.
Iwobi has earned high praise for his recent display for Everton, this was after he received a lot of scathing remarks from fans at his club and countrymen who held him responsible for the Super Eagles ouster at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon earlier in the year. He was shown a red card in the round of 16 game against Tunisia. The Super Eagles crashed out after they failed to come back from a first half goal deficit.
“Before I used to take a look and listen out for what people say about me,” Iwobi told BBC Sport Africa.
“But I’m at this age where the only criticism I really react upon is from myself. I’m the one that judges my performances at the end of the day.
“I do get external factors [like the manager] telling me what I can improve on and what I can do to get better.
“But I just focus on my own opinion, because it’s my own opinion that matters to me.”
He added that he was enjoying his box-to-box midfield role under coach Frank Lampard.
“Now I’m playing more in midfield, my engine has been required to run up and down the pitch,” he added.
“I link the play from defence to attack, so whenever I’m called upon to play, my qualities and attributes have been used to an advantage.”
