By Robbie Savage
Two years ago, at my lowest ebb on loan at Brighton, I played against Pele.
Well, he was listed in the programme as Jermaine Beckford, but from his swagger on the pitch that Saturday afternoon you'd have thought that he was the legendary Brazilian.
I'm not backward when it comes to being forward but I've never come across such a chirpy character on the field.
Jermaine talked the talk and that day he walked the walk too. He was excellent in a 3-1 win for Leeds and I thought then that he was a player who one day a Premier League team would take a punt on.
Everton did so in the summer but so far it hasn't worked out for Beckford. He's yet to score in the Premier League, has been guilty of a couple of glaring misses and has only a goal in a League Cup rout of Huddersfield to his name.
It might be that Everton's short passing game doesn't suit his defence-splitting style of trying to latch on to a ball over the top, as he did to such devastating effect when Leeds beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. It might be that Jermaine is struggling personally to adjust to a league in which you can only get one chance per game and you are expected to stick it away against quality defenders and keepers.
But whatever is going wrong, it is bound to be affecting that confidence which was brimming over three years ago. And Beckford will be asking himself if, after terrorising the third tier, he really has what it takes to play at this level.
The only way we will know that for sure is if he gets a decent run of 10 to 15 games in which he can come to terms with his new surroundings and hopefully start sticking them away again.
But with Everton struggling, how long can David Moyes afford to keep the faith?
I think fans and pundits constantly underestimate just how important confidence is in football. For me, it's a huge factor.
Two years ago, at my lowest ebb on loan at Brighton, I played against Pele.
Well, he was listed in the programme as Jermaine Beckford, but from his swagger on the pitch that Saturday afternoon you'd have thought that he was the legendary Brazilian.
I'm not backward when it comes to being forward but I've never come across such a chirpy character on the field.
Jermaine talked the talk and that day he walked the walk too. He was excellent in a 3-1 win for Leeds and I thought then that he was a player who one day a Premier League team would take a punt on.
Everton did so in the summer but so far it hasn't worked out for Beckford. He's yet to score in the Premier League, has been guilty of a couple of glaring misses and has only a goal in a League Cup rout of Huddersfield to his name.
It might be that Everton's short passing game doesn't suit his defence-splitting style of trying to latch on to a ball over the top, as he did to such devastating effect when Leeds beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. It might be that Jermaine is struggling personally to adjust to a league in which you can only get one chance per game and you are expected to stick it away against quality defenders and keepers.
But whatever is going wrong, it is bound to be affecting that confidence which was brimming over three years ago. And Beckford will be asking himself if, after terrorising the third tier, he really has what it takes to play at this level.
The only way we will know that for sure is if he gets a decent run of 10 to 15 games in which he can come to terms with his new surroundings and hopefully start sticking them away again.
But with Everton struggling, how long can David Moyes afford to keep the faith?
I think fans and pundits constantly underestimate just how important confidence is in football. For me, it's a huge factor.
