Everton: we look an unhappy camp

[Barnfred 55]

...oops. It felt like a loss.

I never ever say that I want Everton to lose. But the late equaliser does make the result more acceptable to many but is just papering over the cracks imo.

Agree with you Eggs that the players don't seem to be accepting Koeman's philosophy/style. Personally, I see the likes of Spurs & Liverpool play and think, I want us to play like that. So I suppose in that respect I'm backing Koeman in this. If that means getting new playing personnel in, so be it.

 

[Paul w]

Galloway and Holgate should be the full backs for me from Jan.

Galloway is no were near good enough for me mate,holgate I would have kept at right back but obviously koeman likes coleman which is fair enough and his goal yesterday has helped him.

 

[Eggs]

I think he needs that infamous £100mil to bring in a Centre back, central.midfielder and centre forward.

He also needs to jettison some players to make way for superior talents.

Id like to see a southampton style culling.

....I keep highlighting how difficult it is to move players on but from what I understand it'll be a key dependency under fair play rules. Not so much of a dependency in this window because we still have the Stones impact on salary, but in the summer it will help lots if we can shift players out.

 

[Eggs]

Galloway is no were near good enough for me mate,holgate I would have kept at right back but obviously koeman likes coleman which is fair enough and his goal yesterday has helped him.

...I suspect Coleman is one of the few who will survive a cull. He seems a really positive influence and I think/hope his greater reluctance to get forward is because our full backs were continually caught wrong side of the ball under Martinez, often leaving the CBs exposed to a single long ball. Perhaps he's simply following the managers instruction.

 

[Zatara]

....I keep highlighting how difficult it is to move players on but from what I understand it'll be a key dependency under fair play rules. Not so much of a dependency in this window because we still have the Stones impact on salary, but in the summer it will help lots if we can shift players out.

Well Jan will be interesting as its the last chance we have to benefit from the stones sale....

If we dont bring in 2 or 3 high salaried players then we will be back to needing to sell a star player in the summer as well as some deadwood just to be able to bring in recognised quality.

Id usually be quite excited about these Sule and belotti links as they seem ideal for koeman but cant see either leaving mid season which means if we did want them then they replace lukaku.

 

[Zatara]

Galloway is no were near good enough for me mate,holgate I would have kept at right back but obviously koeman likes coleman which is fair enough and his goal yesterday has helped him.

I liked what i saw of galloway until the games caught up with him and think he would at least be able to defend the flank better than baines or oviedo...coleman scored a goal so likely keeps his place despite again not being good enough.

 

[catcherintherye]

Nice post Dave.

I think we have two intersecting issues here. Firstly this is the pattern of Koeman teams and secondly following a familiar pattern to this team over the last couple of years.

Mot of Koemans teams start well, have a dip off point and then finish the season strongly. I'm not sure why that is, but in an age where fitness and pre-season become so critical I imagine it's something in the training that there's a blip to prevent performances around this time or maximise it at other times of the season. The nature of the fixtures has exaggerated this tendency, with an easier start to the season and then a difficult run.

As for the players are any of us surprised? We are now onto a third manager that many would feel some of these lads haven't under performed for? Are our expectations realistic? When it comes to 3 managers coming under pressure is it that we have unrealistic expectations of how good we are? There's a lot of talk of "best squad since the 80's" but I wonder if we are slipping into Kopite levels of delusion with such notions. How many with any certainty would you say you would want as starters for a top 10 premier league team? Coleman, Williams (for now), Bolasie, Lukaku, Barkley, Gueye. Half a team.

Going forward the key word Moshiri mentioned was "ruthless" when he described Koeman and his own vision of the club. These players I think pressured Moyes into a conservatism of almost jobs for the boys, and Martinez wasn't ruthless enough to make the changes that were required. The way they gave up last season and hung the manager out to dry still rankles with me. I think we have got Koeman in with that in mind to begin to make the changes that need to be made by changing the ethos of the team.

It can be no coincidence that we didn't want away at top teams, have a terrible record in derby games and bottled cup semi-finals/finals where we were in great positions to win. These stretch across differing managers. I think Koeman's job is to try and change that mentality. He will need money though. The 100 million or so that was allegedly made available in the summer needs to be open to him in January. I wrote in September, even amidst a good run of form this was papering over the cracks and better quality will be needed.

I take your reservation you don't think he's the right fit, but in a strange way I kind of like the fact he's an outsider. As a club we have come to accept failure and mediocrity under Kenwright. If he's falling out with players then thats no bad thing. I know a lot of fans have come to accept our family club ethos and will not like a fox in the chicken house. However I think Koeman deserves time and also deserves at least one transfer window that was not a bodge job like this one. Gueye, Williams, Bolasie & Stekelenberg have been our better players.

 

[harry]

He plays 2 defensive midfielders every game leaving the only option to punt up to Bolasie or Lukaku as there is too much space between them and Barkley.

Its ridiculous...then he comes out and blames the players every match when hes putting in players returning from injury or out of form players in ahead of others.

We are also playing our wingers to narrow giving the team no width. The fullbacks can't get up the pitch quick enough to offer width in a quick attack.

 

[Eggs]

Well Jan will be interesting as its the last chance we have to benefit from the stones sale....

If we dont bring in 2 or 3 high salaried players then we will be back to needing to sell a star player in the summer as well as some deadwood just to be able to bring in recognised quality.

Id usually be quite excited about these Sule and belotti links as they seem ideal for koeman but cant see either leaving mid season which means if we did want them then they replace lukaku.

....I agree, future windows will be interesting. We might have money to spend but the salary ceiling is dependent (I think) on income so it will be important for a club like ours to move players on. You have to think the gulf with high-income clubs will widen.

Also agree about this window. I can see us exploiting the Stones situation be it with a couple of high value players or a bigger number to boost the squad. I fear the longer the window goes we will be forced to bring in players at the bottom of the shopping list. Hopefully, RK/SW get who they want and I suspect they are already busy on the telephone.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Well Jan will be interesting as its the last chance we have to benefit from the stones sale....

If we dont bring in 2 or 3 high salaried players then we will be back to needing to sell a star player in the summer as well as some deadwood just to be able to bring in recognised quality.

Id usually be quite excited about these Sule and belotti links as they seem ideal for koeman but cant see either leaving mid season which means if we did want them then they replace lukaku.

Agree mate. We all know that January can be difficult to bring in quality players (could be the clubs get out clause if they don't spend) because other teams are reluctant to let their best players go, you would think we're maybe going to have to break the bank to get the quality in we need, so will be interesting to see if we'll spend that type of money. Also, we need to bring in players early in the window, not last minute when the windows closing.

 

[Paul w]

I liked what i saw of galloway until the games caught up with him and think he would at least be able to defend the flank better than baines or oviedo...coleman scored a goal so likely keeps his place despite again not being good enough.

Oviedo should be no where near the first team,i think we do need to replace baines but for me there is more important positions to sort out first.Galloway just doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

[anjelikaferrett]

I was underwhelmed by Koeman's appointment, I was underwhelmed by the last transfer window and I still have reservations about Moshiri and the fact that Philip Green may or may not be involved with our club was the icing on the cake. However I don't throw away the longest love affair of my life easily so I've just got tickets for the RS game. My heart says we'll smash them, my head says is going to be a long drive back to County Durham...

There is a malaise at the heart of our club and I don't think Koeman is the man to fix it. I don't think he fits Everton- much like Mourhino at Man Utd (who I still think will be sacked by Christmas) As mentioned by other posters Koeman is quick to blame the players in public. What is he saying to them in private? In any workplace, constant criticism never gets results, a paralysing fear of doing the wrong thing takes over leading to worse performance and more errors. Resentment builds up and any goodwill is lost. His comments about Lukaku cannot have been conducive to dressing room harmony either. Martinez was the polar opposite - far too much positivity when a good rollocking would have been in order. Somewhere between Koeman and Martinez is Everton's perfect manager.

I fear we are in trouble, if we cannot beat the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace or Swansea then the omens are not good. The upcoming Southampton and Watford matches will define our season.

I hope I'm wrong about all of the above and at the season's end I'm saying "what a great appointment Koeman was"

 

[bignev23]

We're 7th which is pretty much exactly where I'd expect us to be, it's not the disaster some are making it out to be but on the other hand it could improve a lot. Mediocrity is where we're at for now and again it's pretty much what I expected, not sure why anyone would expect anything different.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

I was underwhelmed by Koeman's appointment, I was underwhelmed by the last transfer window and I still have reservations about Moshiri and the fact that Philip Green may or may not be involved with our club was the icing on the cake. However I don't throw away the longest love affair of my life easily so I've just got tickets for the RS game. My heart says we'll smash them, my head says is going to be a long drive back to County Durham...

There is a malaise at the heart of our club and I don't think Koeman is the man to fix it. I don't think he fits Everton- much like Mourhino at Man Utd (who I still think will be sacked by Christmas) As mentioned by other posters Koeman is quick to blame the players in public. What is he saying to them in private? In any workplace, constant criticism never gets results, a paralysing fear of doing the wrong thing takes over leading to worse performance and more errors. Resentment builds up and any goodwill is lost. His comments about Lukaku cannot have been conducive to dressing room harmony either. Martinez was the polar opposite - far too much positivity when a good rollocking would have been in order. Somewhere between Koeman and Martinez is Everton's perfect manager.

I fear we are in trouble, if we cannot beat the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace or Swansea then the omens are not good. The upcoming Southampton and Watford matches will define our season.

I hope I'm wrong about all of the above and at the season's end I'm saying "what a great appointment Koeman was"

In the Kop mate!






































Just jesting!

 

[Khalekan]

Hmmm...we are 2 points better of than last season, but then you telling people not to panic..so why panic now?

6 points from the last 21.

A run of fixtures on the horizon that suggests that meagre return ain't about to improve any time soon.

Any Evertionian not alarmed at this moment in time is merely burying his or her head in the sand and ignoring the bleedin' obvious.

I would suggest right now would be an appropriate time for the management of the club to "panic" and try sommat different on the field.

Because whatever he is trying now sure as heck ain't working.

There is too much deflection from Koeman.

Every utterance points the finger of blame away from him.....all very post 2010 Moyes.

What is he.....a one truck pony?

So we just shrug our shoulders and meekly accept he can do nowt without completely changing the squad to get players whom can play the only way he wants to play?

If this squad cannot play the way he wants to play then tough......we can do sod all about that until January.

(And like plenty of others, including the panel on Soccer Saturday yesterday, questions about how much money he will have to spend then are being raised)

So Mr. Koeman needs to devise another tactic to see us through to the next window and start amassing a few points.

Because if the next six matches yield the same average return as the last six, we are going to find ourselves perilously close to the bottom three.

That fact might be an inconvenient truth for many on here, but get yer heads around it.

We should indeed "panic" now......while there is still time to change tack