Ronald Koeman discussion

[Zatara]

If they were honest professionals they would have made largely the same poor mistakes as the existing defence did. Less so the keeper but i don't think stek would have been an improvement tbh.

The defence under instruction was poor, not the defenders as such. Like the derby (as i always say), they were told to keep lines of defence, which liverpool literally danced around because they were told not to go with their man. Not the defenders there, it was the instructions given to them

dude...i never said to sign dud stek...nor pointless valencia or donkey bolasie...i added gueye williams+ one top keeper from the £30mil odd available.

we would have hit around 8th not 11th.

 

[Zatara]

Joined 3 years ago just on the off chance then?

He wanted @Mikey_Fitzgerald 's views on VVD

 

[Blue Cheese]

I'm a realist, all I've seen you do since summer is moan...

During a game that I happen not to be working on then I get very angry when Everton do Everton things.

When I am working on the game I have to take an objective viewpoint and it helps to look at the whole picture.

I respect you have a different opinion and that's fine.

Saturday we were crap overall - crap result and a crap first-half performance. Marginally better in the second half and we got the equaliser we deserved on the balance of play. We should be winning those games.

However, just because we didn't, I'm not panicking. I'm not writing Koeman off after 12 games and I'm willing to see how he shapes his team over a longer period than three months before I judge.

If that makes me a happy clapper because I point out the good things he's done, then so be it.

I'm not writing koeman off, the players have a lot to answer for. Doesn't mean I'm happy with his tactics

 

[TheFinnFan]

Patience lads, patience.

Koeman will bring trophies.

 

[Ashtonian]

dude...i never said to sign dud stek...nor pointless valencia or donkey bolasie...i added gueye williams+ one top keeper from the £30mil odd available.

we would have hit around 8th not 11th.

Thing is mate, we never signed a 30 million pound keeper anyway so if we had signed x doesn't carry much weight, if only we sacked martinez back in october, we may have got further up the league etc.
What i am saying is that the poor defence on occasions was not down to the players but the instructions given to them. Switching to 3 at the back against west ham at 2-0 up, putting stones at right back vs sterling, defending lines vs liverpool, all different examples of different managerial defence decisions which went against us. Could well have the defend higher when 3-2 against chelsea and bournemouth, conceding so many set pieces vs many teams, and so on.

 

[maccavennie]

It shows how poor the prem is mate when we have had 1 win in 7 prem games and we are still 7th, and that there isn't a team below us who looks better than us because at the moment it shouldn't be too hard to look better than us.

Funny thing is as well Lou that if we'd shown any kind of form over the past 6-7 matches we would be sitting top of the league lol

Big game on Sunday against the Saints who will be well up for it. If he doesn't know already he will soon find out of this set of players have got any bottle for a fight. I can actually see us turn them over even though we look awful.

 

[BlueToff]

I'm not writing koeman off, the players have a lot to answer for. Doesn't mean I'm happy with his tactics

But my point is that his tactics worked - like at the start of the season, even though like you have pointed out we weren't playing brilliantly - we were winning games. And that isn't just due to the opposition.

Look at the game vs Spurs. We hammered them for an hour and should have been 2 or 3 to the good but weren't due to some poor finishing from Deulofeu. Okay, it happens, and they came on strong when we noticeably tired.

The next few games he got his tactics right, or if he didn't he quickly altered it so the pattern of the game changed, and the players reacted positively.

The worry for me is after 1 poor result the squad lacks the mental capability to actually have any self-belief, and that all comes from the previous regime, ultimately.

Koeman needs to sort it out, but until he has a few windows then it's hard to judge, even though our activity should and could have been better in the last window.

 

[Zatara]

Thing is mate, we never signed a 30 million pound keeper anyway so if we had signed x doesn't carry much weight, if only we sacked martinez back in october, we may have got further up the league etc.
What i am saying is that the poor defence on occasions was not down to the players but the instructions given to them. Switching to 3 at the back against west ham at 2-0 up, putting stones at right back vs sterling, defending lines vs liverpool, all different examples of different managerial defence decisions which went against us. Could well have the defend higher when 3-2 against chelsea and bournemouth, conceding so many set pieces vs many teams, and so on.

im not saying mistakes werent made BUT with williams gueye and a top keeper we would have been around 8th.

Thats it...


This summer we didnt need to reinvent the wheel, just add defensive coaching and a few players and we could look at top 6...

Instead we have what we have lol

 

[Zatara]

Funny thing is as well Lou that if we'd shown any kind of form over the past 6-7 matches we would be sitting top of the league lol

Big game on Sunday against the Saints who will be well up for it. If he doesn't know already he will soon find out of this set of players have got any bottle for a fight. I can actually see us turn them over even though we look awful.

2 wins and we would be 4th with spurs...insane really.

 

[Ashtonian]

im not saying mistakes werent made BUT with williams gueye and a top keeper we would have been around 8th.

Thats it...


This summer we didnt need to reinvent the wheel, just add defensive coaching and a few players and we could look at top 6...

Instead we have what we have lol

you mean 2 of the 3 you mentioned

8th was still nowhere mate, so not really here nor there, the reality was we should have finished the season 2 points off 4th, probably have us settled 6th with us catching 4th rather than losing pace on it, but results wise we could and should have been 6th or 7th.

The fact it was one of those seasons makes it look less harsh on us that it actually was.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Funny thing is as well Lou that if we'd shown any kind of form over the past 6-7 matches we would be sitting top of the league lol

Big game on Sunday against the Saints who will be well up for it. If he doesn't know already he will soon find out of this set of players have got any bottle for a fight. I can actually see us turn them over even though we look awful.

I think we'll win 1-0 in a snoozefest mate.

 

[maccavennie]

2 wins and we would be 4th with spurs...insane really.

It is when you think how crap we've been..that is what has kept me quite positive during this poor run. Of we can still be there or there abouts after such a poor run, 2-3 positive results on the bounce would have us right up there.

A couple of more defeats and I think we will be scrapping in the 10-14th places then. Just need him to drop a couple of the old guard and give a couple of the u23's game time. That would certainly buy him a lot more patience than sticking to same players who simply aren't up to it anymore.

 

[maccavennie]

I think we'll win 1-0 in a snoozefest mate.

I'd take that right now Lou

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

8th was still nowhere mate, so not really here nor there, the reality was we should have finished the season 2 points off 4th, probably have us settled 6th with us catching 4th rather than losing pace on it, but results wise we could and should have been 6th or 7th.

 

[Lanolin]

Yep.

The 'stand-out' teams in our league are being shown up time and time again to be not all that.

A lot of that is to do with intensity mind, and so many new managers who are still adjusting to the league and their new sides.

Consistency is pretty much non-existent. It's why Chelsea's run is even more remarkable.

I hate the 'best of the rest' tag but atm that's where realistically we are aiming to be (league-wise). Get there and then build from there.

12 games in and the top 5 have lost 5 games between them this season. A grand total of 1 of those defeats have come from teams outside the top 5 themselves, and you reckon that there's no consistency amongst the top sides? On what planet exactly?