Ronald Koeman discussion

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I don't think Koeman honestly believes that, or at least I hope he doesn't

As others have said, I think he was trying to protect the younger players after a chastening Derby experience

Martinez had form for saying that sort of stuff every week, and let's not forget a lot of us liked the positive language at first

 

[royvernon39]

to be fair to them they have won that without getting out of 1st gear , our manager is deluded if he thinks that was a performance to be proud of. We only started playing once the result was never in question.

Dead right. That more than anything makes it so depressing. But RK's team selection was duff and we just did not have
belief. The same old.. same old

 

[streeky]

Whilst the manager undoubtedly made some tactical errors today, let's be level-headed about the abject failure of yet another Everton team to perform at Anfield.

Our passing was poor, our first touch was largely poor, our defending was poor, we lacked passion, commitment, pace and decision making, we lacked (channelled) fight and we simply got things wrong all over the pitch, literally from five minutes into the game.

We gave them far too much space to run into at pace... which we all know terrifies defenders... and we failed woefully to compete effectively in midfield. Our cause wasn't helped by the loss of Seamus Coleman and Morgan Schneiderlin, and even the stupid, unnecessary loss of McCarthy.

Mirallas should have been on from the start, or at least introduced at half time, to give him just nine minutes was sheer folly.

Think his quotes today have an eye on tuesday, no point getting into them before we play away at manu

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Exactly this. He didn't play Barry and we had limited midfield and defensive options today Pennington had to get thrown into the deep en - sure in retrospect it looks bad, but it was worth a roll of the dice to play the way we did. Big picture, the loss of RFM, Schneids, Seamus and J Mac proved to be too much - no reason to throw the young kids under the bus when it was already going to be a monumental task today.

We can still salvage something from the season if we get a result at OT

For me, we as a fan base could be better about it as well

It's only "throwing them under the boss" if we then go and slaughter them afterwards without appreciating the mitigating circumstances

People are shovelling dirt on Pennington whilst also saying Kenny should have played in the same breath

Would he really have done any better? He's a kid as well

At least Davies, Holgate and DCL had had some game time this season

Ultimately Koeman's options were limited and he went with what he had. Yes, he could have done a back four, but would that honestly have helped with Jags, Williams in the middle with Holgate on the right?

I'm not so sure. This was always going to be an uphill struggle once Seamus and Morgs got hurt

 

[when i score we riot]

First post-match quotes which were off the mark for me, but strategically it was a sound way of defending the team. Not bothered that he's a bit of a snide or could come across as bitter, cause this certainly was a crap day to swallow.

Tactics from the start, we know they'd be a mess with all the injuries. Incredible that DCL got to start, curious why Mirallas didn't. I simply don't understand how we could play 5 at the back and still invite them onto us insteading of pressing back in midfield.

 

[CrustySack]

RonK knows we were tripe today but it is obvious to me that he is protecting the younger players with his comments. We've played better than that and been hammered by RonK in his pressers so I wouldn't read too much into his comments.

 

[Slippin Jimmy]

4 at the back... right back Williams Jags Baines, 2 Holding...Gueye Davies, Upper Mid...Mirallas Barkley left wing, Striker...Rom, wouldn't of been as much of a change or risk of playing too many youngsters in a high pressure game IMO

 

[ToffeeTim]

For me, we as a fan base could be better about it as well

It's only "throwing them under the boss" if we then go and slaughter them afterwards without appreciating the mitigating circumstances

People are shovelling dirt on Pennington whilst also saying Kenny should have played in the same breath

Would he really have done any better? He's a kid as well

At least Davies, Holgate and DCL had had some game time this season

Ultimately Koeman's options were limited and he went with what he had. Yes, he could have done a back four, but would that honestly have helped with Jags, Williams in the middle with Holgate on the right?

I'm not so sure. This was always going to be an uphill struggle once Seamus and Morgs got hurt

Mikey I appreciate you supporting the young lads, and wanting them to do well and get a chance. But so do I, IF they are good enough. Davies is a gem, DCL is patchy but has something, Holgate is not a right back but has something. Pennington however I just don't understand it. He's so clearly not Everton standard. He's not impressed me in the slightest on any occassion he's played. I'm all for giving lads a chance but I'm not sure he's shown anything to deserve it and it would be ridiculous to say he's the answer going forward based on what we'e seen. He needs taken back out of the firing line to the reserves to improve or to go out on loan. Really not ready, and unfortunately my instinct is he's not going to be,

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Mikey I appreciate you supporting the young lads, and wanting them to do well and get a chance. But so do I, IF they are good enough. Davies is a gem, DCL is patchy but has something, Holgate is not a right back but has something. Pennington however I just don't understand it. He's so clearly not Everton standard. He's not impressed me in the slightest on any occassion he's played. I'm all for giving lads a chance but I'm not sure he's shown anything to deserve it and it would be ridiculous to say he's the answer going forward based on what we'e seen. He needs taken back out of the firing line to the reserves to improve or to go out on loan. Really not ready, and unfortunately my instinct is he's not going to be,

My personal opinion is he did well at the tail end of last season and, once he shakes the rust, he'll show his worth

 

[hallamblue]

He started with the wrong team, but got lucky in a way because we were outclassed so the formation became irrelevant. He needs to learn, same as against Spurs.

 

[ToffeeTim]

My personal opinion is he did well at the tail end of last season and, once he shakes the rust, he'll show his worth

Fair enough and hope you're right. I definitely don't think playing on Tuesday is good for him in any way tho going forward.

 

[bluestevon]

My personal opinion is he did well at the tail end of last season and, once he shakes the rust, he'll show his worth

problem is Mikey, if shaking his rust off ends up in performances like todays, then when the rust is shaken he will be nowhere near the team and not trusted to be good enough, that's just the simple way things work at the top end of the league for young lads.

My own opinion was not being impressed last season when i saw him, and thinking he looked a clear level down on the other younger players given chances (including Dowell, Kenny, Connely, Holgate etc) what i saw today was a lad struggling badly to handle the step up, at 22 and obviously with mitigating factors then maybe not a fair view on the lad ofc, but i would be surprised if he makes it with us.

Hope to God he doesn't start against United as Mkhitaryan will have him in a similar situation he found today.

 

[davek]

They do, but most teams above us have massive, massive squads.

I said in Jan that Koeman had taken a gamble by shedding the squad of all the tosh, leaving us short in terms of numbers if any injuries came, they certainly came this week and its hit us hard, we are now back to look over our shoulder rather than above us, but ok.

I said that too, with predictable responses.

Deulofeu for me has been a big miss in terms of a player that has something extraordinary to offer. But this feller doesn't want extraordinary.

 

[Kenshin]

Said it to another poster earlier but one major hindrance today in hindsight was the fact 4 of our first 11 were young inexperienced kids playing. Lads at the start of their careers essentially and thrown in all together to make a bulk of the team and ultimately meant large chunks of the pitch were covered by lads who don't know the ins and outs of the premier league.

That's Not me knocking them, Davies impressed me still, holgate held his own the best he could. In fact at 12:00 you wouldn't have necessarily argued against them playing apart from perhaps pennington. But that had to factor into the game somewhat today, even if the overall performance was typical of a derby anyway.

Perhaps today was a result of letting go of so many players in January. There is no depth to the squad and lucky for us that hasn't factored in until 1st April. The game was poor and to be honest it's what we have come to expect but perhaps we might have had a better time with mori Coleman schneiderlin on the pitch over the young lads. No way of knowing that now.

I think carragger after the game though hit the proverbial nail on the head. Koeman coming out and saying he was proud of the performance and we did well etc is what is wrong here, the attitudes are wrong. Koeman should be angry about losing to Liverpool again, he wasn't at all or at least not on face value. The meaning of winning against them is gone, the performances are not there because the general attitude is not there. We seem to have accepted defeat and based on Barkley tackles and mori last season, the point of the derby seems to have been lost over the years now as well.

 

[d4kyxx]

Koeman said he was proud of that performance

How can you be proud losing 3-1 to your rivals?

We were horrendous today looked so poor in all areas particularly at the back

Come on Koeman you can't honestly say you were proud of that? If you are then just leave pal because you clearly don't care