Ronald Koeman was applauded for his swift summer recruitment but his failure to replace Everton’s most important departing player shows the pitfalls of judging a team’s health by their transfer activityAn ancient cliche was conspicuous by its absence when Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, gave Ronald Koeman a vote of confidence the other day. Older football followers in particular might have noted that in reporting it hardly anyone used the word “dreaded”.Presumably it is safe to say votes of confidence are still dreaded, because no manager particularly wants one and they still tend to mean what they always meant, that the stay of execution will be terminated anyway if results cannot be quickly improved. Related: Ronald Koeman given time to solve...
Everton’s defence has gone walkabout, Swansea and Southampton are serving up stodgy fare and Antonio Conte may rue being in a tougher league than Serie AChris Hughton, the Brighton & Hove Albion manager, said it all when he highlighted how his team had not been “out of sight” against Arsenal, just as they had not been against Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season. On both occasions, the final scoreline of 0-2 hinted at respectability. Which, in truth, was Brighton’s priority. The gap to the Premier League’s top six clubs yawns like a chasm and Hughton’s approach at the Emirates Stadium – an approach born out of necessity – was characterised by damage limitation. Hughton used a 4-5-1...
Everton spent £130m in the summer but recent results have been poor and the pressure is on the manager and team to perform against the Turf Moor sideRonald Koeman told reporters in midweek that he was not prioritising either of his club’s forthcoming fixtures in the Europa League and the Premier League; he expected to win both of them. Apollon Limassol having dealt a crushing blow to that idea at a deathly quiet Goodison Park on Thursday, the Everton manager now finds himself and his players under a certain amount of pressure to perform against Burnley on Sunday afternoon. Related: Ronald Koeman says Everton are ‘scared to play’ after Apollon Limassol draw Related: Everton’s Koeman has no regrets over Oumar...
Wayne Rooney made his first return to Old Trafford since leaving and it was not a happy one as his replacement Romelu Lukaku overshadowed himThe heavens opened after only three minutes and so Wayne Rooney was being soaked as Antonio Valencia flashed home a sweet volley that gave Manchester United the lead moments later. This was not the way the club’s record goalscorer imagined his return.Rooney last faced United at this venue on Boxing Day 2003 when Everton lost 3-2 against a Sir Alex Ferguson side that featured Tim Howard, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Bellion. While Rooney’s status then as Old Trafford’s golden boy was still in the future, this match might have been billed as United Past versus United...
Brighton provide perfect response, Everton are embarrassed, Liverpool have concerns beyond defence and Rafael Benítez sees progress from afarEddie Howe has worked wonders in overseeing Bournemouth’s exhilarating rise but his present task looks rather less attractive. They have yet to win a point and, while a defeat at the Emirates Stadium is not cause for concern on its own, the warning signs are stacking up. On Saturday they lacked initiative, invention, power and presence; it was a non-event of a display and it clearly bothered Howe, whose team have looked flat in all bar the late reverse against Manchester City. “I’m worried by the performance,” he said. “The four performances we’ve had, I’d accept one of them. I won’t accept...