Koeman calls for more commitment ahead of Gunners clash

Even states he's an Evertonian. Anyone else think someone's had a word in his ear?

I'm hoping the team can surprise us in the next two games. Six points against the Arse and the Shite and it'll be Merry Christmas everybody and a very Happy New Year!

Two more defeats and it won't just be the turkey getting roasted by the fans.

Unsworth said: "I thought the young lads were terrific. I thought Matty Pennington started the game really well, unfortunately had to come off with a hamstring and it was a case of 'no problem'. Jonjoe Kenny's been playing there all season.

"He's been under-21 captain, I had no hesitation putting him in and he was outstanding as well. Kieran Dowell showed flashes of genius, showed the quality he's been showing all season with the under-21s, and as for Tom Davies, I thought his performance was probably man of the match. For me he was everything we want in an Everton central midfielder."

Unsworth expects whoever the new manager is to utilise the young talent at his disposal.

He said: "That will be the skill of the manager: can he blend top established players with a new generation of unbelievable talent.

"It doesn't matter how old you are, if you watch that performance, you know that Kieran, Tom, Jonjoe and Matty are here to stay and basically you build a team around that."

It's a shame that Ronald has deemed not to use any of those players more often, but he's the boss and its his call.

If we can't create from open play then make corners count. It took Joe Royle all of one week to figure that out as a quick fix when he replaced Mike Walker.

Everton have 2 managers, his brother Erwin Koeman was manager at PSV, so let's face it, they can't both be wrong about the players. We need a re-build because no manager will be able to sort this out until we have different personnel crossing that white line. Bring on the transfer windows ffs!

At the moment, it's all doom and gloom and rightly so given the run were on.

I for one can't see where the next win is coming from and I'm sure I'm not alone thinking that. But, and it's a big 'but' – things can turn around in football quite quickly.

A win tomorrow and it gives us renewed hope for the Derby. A demoralising defeat tomorrow and confidence is going to be rock bottom going into said game.

One thing is certain, the system and shape of the side has to change... otherwise, it'll more of the same. Playing 3 defensive midfielders and a lone striker isn't working and if Koeman can't see that, is he really worth the salary being paid to him?

Problem with this team is that in the last two and half seasons, they've generally been good in either attack or defence, or poor in both.

Major surgery needed, regardless of the manager's name.

But I am a firm believer that young players need to be seen. If you don't try them, you never know whether they are up to the standard required.

I anticipated evolution rather than revolution but I did not expect to see the current displays we endure. Come on, Koeman, show me that, as usual, I am wrong!

If we go a goal down early on and the heads go down, it won't be pretty.

The team needs some dynamism; for me Davies should start; but won't.

I'll be very surprised if there's any change tomorrow night. Same formation and the same squad, not a sniff of Davies or Walsh.

I've lost patience with him.

Yet equally a win against Arsenal or Liverpool could have an equally disproportionate effect. Consistently? Oh to dream.

Lad things are turning big style, time for you to say what they need to hear.

Volte face on the youngsters is next in the charm offensive.

Results fella, or performances, or both – they buy you time, Ron, lad. Take heed on the pitch – not in the mircophone, that's where it's at.

Don't worry guys... Ronnie's got this.

In addition to that, Goodison is so fickle and ready to jump on anyone's back at the moment that the lads' confidence could be shattered should they make a couple of mistakes and have the crowd on their backs.

I've seen the lads mentioned play several times, the most high profile being the Norwich game last season, and despite the fact that they showed well, I have to agree with Koeman that they're not ready. There's a big difference between an end of season dead rubber, and a very difficult physical battle with a top Premier League team (or in our case lately ANY Premier League team).

Feel free to disagree but remember, I love the club as much as you do, so no "You don't know what you're talking about" or worse, if you don't mind. TW is toxic enough, and things are bad enough in general without posters trying to rip the shit out of each other.

Here's to a minor miracle tomorrow night!

He managed to turn it round there. I have every condidence he can do it with us.

Do the BBC have a total anti-Everton stance? Not that I want to see the goals from the debacle on Saturday again but surely that is so out of order. Talk about our profile being off the radar.

Surely it must be worse for Holgate to sit and watch three centre-halves take it in turns to stink the place out, than to get on and develop as a player.

Besides his "dip in form", which only happened in the manager's head anyway, he has proved he can cope.

Holgate's the exception, sorry for that. He's one that IS ready.

Paul (#21). Cheers, mate. ;-)

We have 20 points on the board now, so anything over and above a point from the next five games, will show a slight improvement on last season's corresponding fixtures.

Obviously if Everton were to win the next five matches the whole picture alters, as Everton took only 5 points from those relative fixtures during the last campaign, (swapping Hull for Newcastle).

I do think say Davies on the bench would be okay. If we are losing badly to Arsenal, he can come on, do his best but not blame himself for a game the starting 11 already lost. And maybe, just maybe he could do well.

I do agree with what you say to a large degree, and not just because we have similar names! However, as you have said, Holgate looks ready and I would argue that Galloway is ready as a left back.

A lot of the goals are coming from crosses not being cut out, I also feel defensively Oviedo was doing a better job than Baines at tackling and cutting out crosses.

So, yes, it isn't ideal to bring a load of youngsters in, but the two I have mentioned (although I know Galloway is on loan), plus some 20/25- minute cameos from the other prospects might just be the tweaks we need.

I won't go too much into changing formations as there have been 100s of decent posts on this, but Holgate with Coleman in-front means an easy switching of formation without changing personnel when required! Just a wee thought!

Man City did not start winning the day after Mansoor arrived.

Rebuilding job required under koeman or someone else. Koeman is telling it the way it is. Sadly a reality check is required. I like many thought this summer expectations would lead to better things. Sadly a holistic approach is required. Working hard will only get us results.

Kone; two months ago, Koeman said his knee was aching but never heard more about it and neither of them are on the injured list. At least he can hold up the ball as an alternative to useless wingers.

Therefore the onus is on both the boardroom and manager to take a long hard look at our 'reserve' talent who would give their eye teeth for the chance to play for the club they love, at ANY price. That, in my opinion, is what is sadly lacking in today's money mad climate where loyalty and love of club is practically non-existent, except for the loyal fans who turn up for every game.

In that respect, Evertonians top my list, especially those who travel thousands of expensive miles only to be bitterly let down time after time. like many expats world wide our loyalty to EFC will never end either, GO BLUES.

As for our youngsters. Surely Holgate is ready. When did he let the team down. I cannot recall him ever having a poor game. Well not anymore than our other defenders. In fact I thought that Holgate was our standout defender when he did feature at the start of the season. Davies has also performed OK when he has been given some game time. Browning is on the come back trail. Kenny and Connelly are promising. Walsh and Dowell also. And when are our young forwards ever going to feature. FFS one of them plays for Switzerland. And one is tearing up trees for the England under 23s. And where is Pennington? And let's not forget Galloway and Garbutt.

We all know about these young players. Do people really think that none of them are ready. They will be all mid twenties before Koeman catches on that they are Everton players. And there are many more that we could all have a case for playing.

I'm not saying to throw them all in. But surely a few of them are now better that some of our old plodders.

And how come other teams have no problem playing a few youngsters? And I don't remberber any recently played youngsters letting their teams down. If anything ..they were refreshing. Ours could also be all that .and more. Could they be much worse?

If the teams doing well we say (Mustafi, etc) be patient, wait your turn we can't break a winning side. If the teams poor we say "now is not the time for kids."

Also, RK makes disparaging comments about U23 level not preparing kids for the EPL. Unsworth meanwhile says loan limitations this year force us to keep more kids since we can't recall loanees.

So is U23s all about making Unsy look good with a winning record? Is Koeman too scared to take a chance? Also what's the point of loans? Walsh had a good one, now he's in U23s

I agree with Brian – you only need to look at Ross to see what happens when a young player loses confidence. It is not surprising when you think of what you were like at 20 then imagine 40,000 fans slating every mistake you make.

It shouldn't be beyond the club in January to get in two key players – a big, dominant bastard of a centre-half and a midfielder of the Reid or Keane (or even Savage) mentality to gee up the forwards. It would transform us – and give space to bring in a youngster or two.

It's great that he's got the excuse that we're struggling that it wouldn't be a good idea to give them a run. Even though, when we were flying it at the start, they still didn't get a look in, except Holgate who only played because Coleman was injured. Then he was dropped abruptly.

Two up front, and relieving the midfield of players who think a forward pass or movement is punishable by death would be a start. Telling the likes of Holgate and Davies that they're in the team because they're the future AND we believe they can do a job right now.

He's inherited a bad hand, but he doesn't help himself by refusing to use some of the cards he has.

I like Koeman and I'll wait until the start of next season to see what the team looks like. But it WILL be without Lukaku and it will be an extremely new look team almost guaranteed.

Big couple of transfer windows ahead but Koeman must roll either Arsenal or Liverpool.

I don't think anybody would expect an 18-year-old to be ready to play 25 games on the spin, but putting one or two in for a few games may just be the catalyst the team needs to improve.

Perhaps, we'll be more enlightened by this time tomorrow evening?

Fixing it?

Surprised, I was expecting "Koeman calls for less commitment ahead of Gunners clash"

Link

Not expecting anything (other than a defeat) tomorrow as I don't believe swapping 'him for him' and/or 'that feller for the other feller' will make any difference.

If we are to get out of this 'thing', my belief is that this will take 3/4/5 players.

Players who must be of a certain type.

Physical and/or nasty and/or mouthy and/or people who just fucking hate losing.

We of course need brains at some stage, but for right now, the former is essential.

There is a 'rot' (?) in there at the moment that has to be stopped and (unless I've missed someone) we don't have anyone (available) capable of stopping it.

(someone capable of shouting 'man on!' would be a start).

In the position we're currently in, to spend money on 'gifted' players right now would, imo, be lunacy.

Simply put, we're in a fight, we need fighters.

That was the time that some of the youngsters should've been tried with matches against Bournemouth Crystal Palace, West Ham, Swansea and Southampton coming up, along with a few stick ones that would've given the youngsters a good chance to settle and show their worth.

I was not a fan of Naisse but, with Lukaku not having a decent player alongside him, maybe it is time for the boss to eat humble pie and give him a couple of games before the transfer window is open. I see he has scored again for the reserves; it makes me think that he can't be any worse than what we have on show now.

Leicester have been on a bad run, and the amount of Leicester fans on the radio slagging off the manager that won them the league illustrates the fickleness of fans.

All teams go on bad runs, and confidence can drain away. Moyes was getting lots of stick at Sunderland and they suddenly won 3 on the bounce (okay, I know they lost at Swansea!).

Fine margins, and all that a red card for Rojo last week, a penalty for that clown having a piggy back on Saturday and things could look different.

A slice of luck tomorrow and three points will be a nice start. Come on Everton.

As in "a pack of" Mr Moshiri, not just two or three.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ronald-koeman-negative-needs-focus-12310613

I think he's hit the nail on the head for everything that's wrong with the team right now. Hopefully Koeman is listening.

As someone said above, Holgate in at right back and moving Coleman up and play Davies, not Cleverley, Lennon or Macca... not asking for 3/4 youngsters and Arsenal is maybe the last game we should try it but at the risk of boring myself with repetitive comments, SHAKE IT UP RON.

The oft quoted line on here of Einstein's, 'Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' applies to many of us on here with our repetitive suggestions, asks, demands screaming for some change.

Everton are driving me insane!

Which Newcastle? The one hopelessly sunk in relegation because they stuck too long with a clueless manager who did not have a plan and lost the players? Maybe instead, you meant the one after, who damn near kept them up and is currently first in the Championship, namely Rafa? If it is the latter, then sign me up as that is a manager!

Able to adapt to circumstances and squads? Yes. Able to win things in the EPL and Europe? Yes. Able to turn teams in poor form around with just the players he has (Newcastle, Chelsea)? Yes. Able? YES!

If we can be guaranteed a Rafa, then I say, "What are you waiting for Mr. Moshiri?"

According to evolutionists, to end up with today's chicken the egg had to come first and that's exactly what we need now, an evolution, and how better to start than the introduction of some youthful enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, for tonight's game we shall probably just see Barkley added to the three defensive midfield that played on Saturday. I've always felt that we've been hammered by Arsenal whenever we've tried to stop their midfield and have performed better when we've tried to take them on at their own game.

Perhaps the ability to get the best out of his players would be an asset he could try to foster. He certainly is not enjoying his job and by their body language nor are his players enjoying their relationship with this manager.

Brilliant.

However, his management of the club as of now is disastrous. No player has improved under him, and no players have come through from the U23 team so far, though I live in hope. A great start to the season was ruined by his team selection in the Norwich League Cup game, and laughing when we were second and he was asked could we finish in the top 4 was not clever either. We we have hardly won since.

I thought at least he would get us organized defensively and make us hard to break down, but he hasn't even managed that. He doesn't seem to like most of the players he has inherited, and they don't like him. Not that I care.

The players have let the club down for too long, and major surgery is due. I think the family club ethos has gone as well, with a more business like approach taken at Finch farm. Which is fine with me, as long as things are good on the pitch. Which they are not.

We have to hope that the signings he will make have the right attitude, as Newcastle have been signing players for over-the-top prices and wages for years. But a lot of these players don't seem to care when things are not going right, and Newcastle have been relegated twice in recent years.

I still believe Koeman will do well here, but the journey is painful at the moment. If things do not improve, we must inject pure Everton love back into my club short term,with Joe and Unsy. Hopefully this will not be needed, but this next transfer window is huge, for the club and the manager.

This is the worst set of players we have had in 50 years, managed by a conman – who doesn't seem to care.

I will be amazed if we even get one point from the next two matches.

Genuinely curious, what would he have to physically do (that he presumably isn't doing now) to show you he 'cares'?

Too many managers have accepted 2nd tier players playing in Royal Blue, prodded on with the acceptance the great days are gone.

Not Koeman; he has had the plums to tell them they are not good enough to play for this club,he won't accept mediocrity.

Setting his sights high. And I trust him to get it right.

I'm truly amazed!!!