Petr Cech will come to Goodison Park on Sunday fully briefed on what his opponents are likely to throw at him.
Counterintuitively, Cech must accept that preparing to face Wayne Rooney amounts to something of an exercise in futility. Rooney’s impudence and inclination towards off-the-cuff brilliance, however, wasn’t always such an open secret.
David Seaman had heard the whispers, mind. And on his own trip to Goodison 15 years ago, the former Arsenal goalkeeper was eager discover if this daring 16-year-old warranted the reverential tones which typically accompanied mention of his name.
“I had been aware of him,” Seaman tells evertonfc.