France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin says his wife Camille helped him revive his career at Premier League side Everton after his popularity with the fans plumbed the depths last season.
The 28-year-old – who joined Everton from Manchester United in 2017 for a reported o20 million ($25.8 million) – became a focal point for fans’ anger as despite millions being spent under manager Ronald Koeman they failed to spark.
However, Schneiderlin – who had flourished under Koeman at his first English club, Southampton – told The Times on Monday that Camille gave him some sound advice after he was roundly booed by the Everton fans when he was sent on as a substitute against Crystal Palace in February this year. His image with them had been tarnished by a nightmare few days in November. He was sent off in a Europa League match with Lyon and then dropped for the following game against Watford by interim manager David Unsworth, who had filled the breach when Koeman was sacked, with rumours that he had walked off the training ground in a huff when he was omitted from the matchday squad.
“My wife is very supportive of me,” Schneiderlin said. “She said: ‘You have to show them who you are.’ “Maybe it was a time to look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Why? Why did this happen?’.” Schneiderlin, capped 15 times, said it helped him also talking to his inner circle as they pulled no punches either.
“As well as my wife, I had a long chat with my best friends, my parents, my agent,” he said. “They are not the type of guys who say, ‘Oh Morgan, you are the most beautiful. Oh Morgan, you are the best.’ “They say (honest) things to me.
