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What I liked most of all about Romelu Lukaku 's performance on Monday night was his interview after the game.

His horrible run without a goal for Everton was over after he'd bagged an 11-minute hat-trick, but he wasn't getting carried away.

He knew he could - and maybe should - have finished the game with five goals to his name.

Lukaku is clearly a young player with great ambition.

When he went away on international duty with Belgium he spoke about picking up hints and tips from Thierry Henry, who is now a coach with the national side.

But it wasn't just Henry telling him do this and that, it was him explaining the reasons that really made the impression.

Lukaku, for example, needs to learn when and where to back into a defender, pin him and try and spin off.

He needs to do that in and around the box, as he did in the second half at Sunderland, and not in a deeper position, as he did in the opening 45 minutes.

I know that if I was playing against Lukaku, and he pinned me on the edge of the box, I would be in trouble.

He is a striker that can score all types of goals but he needs to learn how to take advantage of his size and presence more than he does.

There's now also an expectation that Lukaku will become a more consistent goalscorer.

I remember when I was at Leicester City and Sven-Goran Eriksson asked me about Yakubu when the club were looking to sign him from Everton on loan.

Sven wasn't overly enthused by the prospect of signing him, it must be said!

He was sceptical because he said Yak would score four goals one week and then wouldn't score in the following six.

But that doesn't always offer the whole picture and though we certainly want Lukaku to become a one-in-two forward, what is perhaps equally as important is that he performs consistently week after week, producing seven and eight out of 10 displays.

Do that and the goals, and the assists, will take care of themselves.

Koeman was right - but Barkley needs to remember how good he is

I felt for Ross.

Three poor touches in the space of three minutes meant he was chasing the game at Sunderland.

He faced an uphill battle in trying to rectify his mistakes and, in the end, was trying too hard.

With experience, he will learn how to get himself back into games like the one on Monday night.

It was the right decision by Ronald Koeman to take him off at half-time, he could even have come off sooner, but the manager waited until the break to make the change.

I think the majority of people watching the game would have made the same decision.

It has been a difficult few weeks for Ross, what with his international set-back and, now, the first 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.

But I was impressed with what Phil Neville said on Monday Night Football before kick-off about Everton's diamond.

Neville said that when he was coaching at Valencia, he watched a Blues game with some of their squad and they were all so impressed with Barkley's ability and bravery.

Yet, Neville argued, in this country we've become too hung up on what Ross can't do.

He's 100% right.

Sure, Ross has his faults but every player does and we must keep remembering he has the ability to do great things on the football pitch.

What Neville was talking about is nothing new in this country, we were like this when Glenn Hoddle was playing.

He had so much talent but didn't always have the consistency to go with it and the analysis of his game always zoomed in on the negatives, rather than the positives and looking at ways of trying to help him.

We have to help find a way for Barkley to find that consistency because with the talent he has, he can be unstoppable.

He needs to forget about the whole England situation and focus on Everton - and primarily focus on going back to basics.

Ross needs to remember the hard work that got him to where he is today and what makes him such a good player.

He also needs help from those around him.

Ross can also look to Romelu Lukaku as an example of someone who has bounced back after a tough spell in his career with a hat-trick on Monday night.

Everton have the fear again

It was pretty clear that Ronald Koeman had delivered a rollicking to Everton's players at half-time.

Their body language, as they walked off, told you that they knew it was coming as well.

But that fear factor was something that was missing under the previous manager.

As was the level of decisiveness that Koeman is showing and it is to his credit, once again, that he made such a swift and telling change to alter the course of the game.

His game management has so far been excellent.

But credit too, to the players for their reaction in the second-half.

The win has kept Everton on course for where I felt they should be at this stage of the campaign.

The next challenge has to be to still be within touch of the top four by the middle-to-end of October.

Until we've played all the big boys then we don't know how close, or far away, we will be to the top four this season but, as the manager says, European qualification of some sort has to be the target this season.

Proud to be a Blue

The heart of Everton Football Club is always there for people to see.

The club's donation of £200,000 for Bradley Lowery to help him reach the money he needs for life-saving surgery was a great gesture.

It made all Blues feel extremely proud of their club.

Give Yannick more of the Bol

Yannick Bolasie deserves special mention for his performance at Sunderland.

Romelu Lukaku grabbed all the headlines with his hat-trick but Bolasie's all-round play was spot on.

I can only imagine what a nightmare he is to mark because he has pace and skill - many wingers only have one or the other.

He's got excellent feet and though sometimes it doesn't always come off he gives Everton something up the pitch they have needed.

The other new boys have also started really well.

We're yet to see Enner Valencia after his deadline day move but Maarten Stekelenburg - although largely untroubled at Sunderland - has been steady and composed while Idrissa Gueye has already become a favourite on the terraces.

Ashley Williams, meanwhile, already looks as though he's been part of the Everton defence for a very long time. He's a born leader.