The Dutchman may not have seen the end coming on Monday but he had overseen a shambolic start to the season after a muddled transfer windowRonald Koeman finished his last, brief, funereal press conference as Everton manager with a dismissive: “Write what you like to write.” He cannot be surprised that his Goodison Park obituary now follows.There was a note of defiance in the 54-year-old’s assessment of the 5-2 mauling by Arsenal on Sunday when he insisted he could arrest Everton’s swift and steep decline. According to friends Koeman was under the impression he retained the support of Farhad Moshiri, the club’s major shareholder, when he dined at San Carlo restaurant in Manchester later that evening with his wife, Bartina; and...
Arsène Wenger must continue with golden front trio; Christopher Schindler was a great buy for Huddersfield; Manchester City defence is as key as their attackThis was the first time Arsène Wenger had started Mesut Özil, Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sánchez in his XI. Yet until Everton went down to 10 men Arsenal were hardly a goal machine, having struggled to a 2-1 lead when Idrissa Gueye was sent off. At this point Özil was on the scoresheet, and by the final whistle Lacazette and Sánchez had also registered. Wenger, of course, cannot rely on the opposition having a man getting his marching orders every game. But even before this happened there was cause for optimism: Sánchez created Özil’s strike while...
Both teams lurched from one disjointed moment to the next at Goodison Park and Everton’s 5-2 defeat will damage the Dutchman’s long-term job prospectsThis curiosity of a contest said everything about these two teams’ current travails. It pitted one in serious crisis – Everton – against one always seemingly near to the next – Arsenal. An odd sense of elite professionals muddling through prevailed until Idrissa Gueye was sent off on 68 minutes and the Gunners pulled away.Before then Everton and Arsenal had each suffered from an absence of stability and clearness of vision. Instead the players lurched from one disjointed moment to the next. The Gunners began like the proverbial train that suggested a seventh defeat in 11 matches...
Ronald Koeman has presided over a difficult start to a season in which his team of too many No10s seems to lack purpose following the loss Romelu LukakuMidway through the Europa League defeat by Lyon at Goodison on Thursday, just before the fighting broke out in fact, the chap in the next seat turned to me and said he wouldn’t mind sticking £100 on Everton to beat Arsenal at the weekend. “They are clearly concentrating on that game,” he argued, pointing to the fact that Wayne Rooney, Leighton Baines and a couple of other regulars had been left out of the side to face Lyon. “And come on, Everton always beat Arsenal.”Not true, actually. If you look back over the...
Chris Hughton’s tactics were working perfectly until his captain conceded a late penalty for an inexplicable charge at Dominic Calvert-LewinWithout having access to Brighton defender Bruno’s inner monologue, or tucking a microphone into his beard, it’s difficult to know what provoked him. Why, at such a crucial moment in the match, did he choose to charge Dominic Calvert-Lewin with an elbow, in his own penalty box? Perhaps the youngster had said something. Perhaps he had tugged surreptitiously at the Spaniard’s doughty chinwear. We’ll never know. But we can be pretty sure that had Brighton’s captain kept his arms down, Everton’s late free-kick would have landed safely in goalkeeper Mathew Ryan’s arms. Related: Wayne Rooney penalty rescues Everton from defeat against...