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...
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 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...
Even if Everton capture Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea, the big-spending Blues must still land a prolific striker after Romelu Lukaku’s departureEverton’s spending will break the £150m barrier should they finally meet Swansea’s asking price for Gylfi Sigurdsson but the cost of challenging the Champions League clique is likely to rise higher. Not even the return of Wayne Rooney to Goodison Park, with his throwback goal in Tanzania, deflects from the need to reconstruct Ronald Koeman’s attack following the exit of Romelu Lukaku. The finishing touches of an unprecedented spree could prove the most important. Related: Swansea warn Everton over Sigurdsson and raise question of tapping up Related: Wayne Rooney rekindles his Everton love affair and wants to play up front...