Michael Keane’s arrival took Ronald Koeman’s summer spree beyond the £80m mark and the Goodison faithful will be hoping their manager’s decisiveness filters through to the team once the season startsThere is no doubt which Premier League club have made the quickest start in the race to do business in the summer transfer window. One might not go as far as Robbie Fowler, who believes Everton’s resolve and targeted investment are making the rest of the league look stupid, though there is plenty to admire in the way Ronald Koeman and his club backers go about their business.Everton have made five major signings before most clubs are properly back from their holidays, although Henry Onyekuru will be going straight out to...
Liverpool manager insists he feels no pressure as he looks to extend winning run against Everton in a match for which both sides’ preparations have been joltedJürgen Klopp has said Liverpool do not feel under pressure against Everton despite describing Saturday’s Merseyside derby as the most important of his Anfield reign.Klopp is the only manager in Liverpool’s history to win his first two derbies having overseen a 4-0 destruction of Roberto Martínez’s side last season and a 94th-minute victory at Goodison Park in December. “Maybe I’m a genius at understanding derbies because I didn’t need a second to understand the importance of this game,” he said. Since Sadio Mané’s stoppage-time goal at Goodison, however, Everton have closed the gap on...
Five things to look out for including how Liverpool will replace Lallana and Lukaku’s pursuit of the golden boot when the two old rivals meet at AnfieldJürgen Klopp’s side triumphed without their influential No10 at Goodison Park in December but he remains pivotal to their prospects of breaking any defence and one of the few talents capable of elevating a derby with a touch of class. Since returning from an ankle ligament injury in January, Coutinho has recaptured his early-season form only sporadically and scored once in 13 outings for his club. However, his goal and performance for Brazil against Paraguay in midweek, when he helped his country to qualify for the World Cup in Russia before flying back to...
Everton manager has readily changed clubs to further his own career and this response to Lukaku’s desire to move shows an all too common double standardThey were nine games into the Eredivisie season when Valencia came calling for Ronald Koeman in October 2007. PSV Eindhoven, the team he had led to the Dutch title, had won seven and drawn two and were enjoying the view from the top of the table. Yet Koeman had always wanted to manage in Spain and the relevant people at PSV were candid enough to realise Valencia was an upgrade. Jan Reker, PSV’s general director, would later say: “Our question to Valencia was: ‘Can’t this wait until next year?’”The answer was a polite no. Valencia’s information...
The 18-year-old midfielder made his first start of the season only a fortnight ago but played with a maturity beyond his years as his side crushed Manchester CityPep Guardiola knew this fixture was going to be hard but felt his side would show the benefit of a full week off in which to prepare. Manchester City had enjoyed that five-goal romp at West Ham United in the FA Cup on Friday 6 January, whereas Everton had played on the Saturday and been dumped out of the only competition remaining open to them by Leicester City. Related: Ademola Lookman adds flourish for Everton in defeat of Manchester City Related: Pep Guardiola rules Manchester City out of title race after Everton thrashing Continue...