Koeman satisfied with first-leg win

Not looking forward to the second leg...

When you're bedding in so many players, leave one section of the alone.

I can understand Stekelenburg playing as two new defenders and a keeper is risky; that being said, the need to blood Martina tonight wasn't exactly a necessity.

If you must, though, or do, surely give yourself the insurance of an established section in front of them, especially when it's a successful trio of midfielders who already have half a season together.

Breaking up the engine room of Davies, Schneiderlin and Gana was madness. With those three intact, the defence is more protected with one sitting deep whilst the other two alternate nicely. That would then have given him the luxury of having an interchanging front three of Rooney, Sanrdro and Klaassen.

We have to get this right next week or it doesn't bare thinking about.

He could show you his medals, regale you with stories of working with Cruyff and scoring the winning goal at Wembley in the European Cup Final – and you could show him your well worn keyboard.

This time next year, Rodney...

You can't really have ago at anyone, mate, you've just watched that game and came out with a line 'Rooney is still world class' around comment 100ish on the other part of the chat about this game!

How did you manage to think that?

Mike, Roy Keane has about as many medals and successes as Koeman, and was of similar standing as a player. He also shares Koeman's party ice-breaker personality type.

He was a crap manager. The playing record is not a guarantee by itself.

Rooney is what a number of us suspected – a class act but a spent force at the top.

I didn't think Martina needed slaughtering but Kenny was the better option to run at what is essentially a "Marine FC" standard of team. The little interplays were neat but not effective and far too rare.

For me this was a classic chance to give Dowell, Lennon, Kenny and Davies a good run out as they are all players who are prepared to run at the opposition. As soon as Martina got the ball on most occasions he had to stop and look up so the momentum was gone.

I don't care what Ron says Calvert-Lewin is not a right winger and should not have been playing IMO.

Rooney struggled to get to passes because his legs have gone; while you couldn't fault his effort and determination, he should not be first choice in a team with top 4 ambition.

Why are we not looking at Jack Wilshere and Dembele. Wilshere is almost back from injury and wouldn't cost anywhere near as much as Sigurdsson whilst Dembele would have loved running at that lot.

Just a thought.

I hope you're not suggesting that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes?

Carefu,l mate. He's only had a season, Apparently, you have to wait a couple more years before you can state the blindingly fucking obvious.

In the mean time, get used to hearing "I really rate Koeman but..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q2x1ABl85s

He's in his last year at Arsenal and would cost between 㾶-15 Million tops. He's dynamic and in a World Cup year with something to prove. He's only 25 and a serious upgrade on Barkley. This kid has everything.

At Bournemouth prior to his injury he showed maturity and a willingness to work hard. Worth a shot.

a) I'm not your mate

b) Maybe I can see something you can't

Is that OK?

My issue with Koeman is this workmanlike shite he is building. Where is the flair the pace the movement? At least under Martinez we were watchable, sometimes for the wrong reasons.

I can see us losing over there and be bottom 3 in the league come September. I said before Koeman will be axed by Xmas. This aggression he talks about what exactly is that? Wheres this famous high press?

We made a bunch of minnows look like Barça. People will say I'm negative or whatever. But after last season, he proved he is nothing more than a Moyes with more money. Let's hope he proves me wrong.

I'd have liked to have seen Davies starting. You never know – Koeman might decide he's the next Barkley, a promising local player who needs to be shown the way of Ronald.

Schneiderlin was wasted in a game where we needed more creativity – Lookman would have been the better option and was given little time. Martina was skinned a few times and, save for two decent crosses, was poor. Kenny would have been ideal.

We still need a striker and Sigurdsson would be a massive improvement on Mirallas at dead ball situations. Koeman baffles me at times.

I missed Seamus, the sooner he is back running down the line the better, Martina was never in with a shout.

Hopefully, in the return leg, we will improve.

Sandro will be superb mark my words.

Early days, lets see where we are after the first 6 games when all is in place and we are on the pace.

I am not gonna rant about the performance or whatever. All we need now is a win away from home. First, results; beauty will come later.

For me the weak links were Mirallas (never ready on the too few occasions when Baines got the ball in space on the left), Martina (not enough pace) and Calvert-Lewin (out of position).

Is it me, or has Baines's drop in confidence regarding penalties now spread to his whole game?

All in all, though it was frustrating that we didn't get a second goal, I thought we looked as though we have much more creative potential than before. Klaassen and Sandro look great.

I'm sure we'll do better in the 2nd leg. The Ruzzers know they have to score at least one goal, and so they're bound to be left exposed at the back at some point. I just hope they don't get an early goal...

They were pretty big and strong and a few weeks further along in fitness. They came to close down and spoil which they did pretty well. I would have hoped our extra bit of quality would have unlocked a few more chances, but we got a clean sheet so it's not a disaster.

I thought Martina's performance was excellent, just what I wanted – as it will surely now guarantee Kenny starts in future! lol

Gana looked good. Williams didn't have the best game. Calvert-Lewin was better than I expected, even though he was out of position. Sandro looks a steal.

I know, Mike (Keane basically went downhill after that success. The big stick doesn't usually work for long today). The Premier League is a different kettle of fish, though. My point stands – some of the best managers were very ordinary or unsuccessful players, many top players don't make it as managers.

In Koeman's case, this season will tell us much.

We also faced a familiar problem - breaking down a defensive team with no real width. We improved a bit second half (Rooney more effective out wide and Sandro looked very good) and two of the issues will be addressed before the window closes (Sigurdsson and Giroud) – I am just not sure that until Bolasie and Coleman come back we'll have much to offer out wide.

Which could mean a lack of variety in our play this season. If I was Koeman I'd be eyeing up a replacement for Deulofeu instead of defensive cover (we should be okay there until the New Year really).

To those advocating Wilshere over Siggurdsson... really? A team based around pressing and work rate can't afford to accommodate two known smokers in it I'm afraid. Plus, he's injured a lot. Not what we need!

Their manager had coached them well. They got men behind the ball quickly, they didn't get over excited and pour forward every time they had a sight of goal. Even on the attack, they kept their shape and were ready to fall back into position.

if this game had been in a few months time, then they would have blown out, and Everton's superior conditioning would have told. Only, it was not later in the season, we have not yet reached that elite level of conditioning, and they are clearly at the peak of their physical fitness.

What did Koeman try to do in that game? Well he told us at the start, He wanted wingers, rather than forwards. So he played two out wide and tried to stretch their tight defensive lines wide to create room for Rooney to find space.

Who do we have on the left? Mirallas and Lookman. It's a straight choice, and if you had to make it, with so much riding on it, would you really have picked the young lad, particularly if you thought that he's always an option for later in the game against tired legs.

Then on the right, we have Lennon and Calvert-Lewin, that's all we have who can get properly wide, although Calvert-Lewin doesn't cut it there for me. Bolasie is a long way from coming back. Up top, it was a straight choice between Rooney and Calvert-Lewin. Rooney was always going to start.

If I was going to be picky, then I would have said, we should free the midfield up a little. Invert the midfield triangle and push one of the two midfielders slightly further forward, playing just one of Schneiderlin and Gueye there and then I would have gone with Davies alongside Klaassen. You could also have pushed Gueye alongside Klaassen and then been able to tweak it by sending him deeper, if play dictated it.

I cannot for the life of me understand the need to play Martina. This game was nailed on for Kenny. It was lower league standard opposition, a safe home ground, an opposition defending hard, and the right back required to attack more than defend. Why, oh why, didn't we give the young lad a chance?

I predict that Kenny will be this season's Davies. We will spend a few months clamouring for him, Big Ron will refuse to play him, then he will give him a go, and Kenny won't look back, and then even when Seamus is fit, Big Ron will stick with Kenny.

Probably a bit far-fetched on the latter part about Coleman, but you get the point.

Fucked we are. I can only see a relegation fight on our hands here.

Most concerning was Koeman's inability to change tactics and his visible lack of concern at his back passing dismaying team effort.

The lack of creativity shown by his highly paid side were put to shame by opponents who had little to offer other than enthusiasm and fitness.

Had we faced a half-decent Premier League team, I shudder to think what the result could have been.

If Koeman wanted width, he would sign wide players. He clearly does not intend to play with width. He was gearing up for a narrow 4-3-3.

say we sign a "Giroud type" then expect to line up with Sandro left of him and Rooney right. As you saw last night, Sandro will pop up all along the front line. The problem for me is, if he does this, and Rooney does this, and they are two of the front 3 and the third guy is Mirallas, then you don't actually have anyone leading the line and pushing the defence back. If the forwards all drop back, then the defence can push out with them, and close the space. We need someone with height, who causes the defence to sit deeper concerned that we can cross to him. This then gives Rooney and Sandro the space to exploit.

I also like the idea of Rooney as the 9, with Sandro to his left. This way if Rooney drops from the middle, then Sandro can run into that space. The movement of these two players makes it difficult for the defence to hold their shape. Does the fullback run into the centre of defence? Does the centre-half cover Rooney in midfield? If Klaassen makes a run beyond Rooney, does the defensive midfielder go for Rooney or cover Klaassen?

This movement will only happen more cohesively once the players get to know each other. Sandro's lack of English does not concern me, as players need to learn his movement and he theirs, and their passes, not to talk about it on the pitch.

Having brought him back, the pressure to keep playing him is going to be considerable and I am very worried that this will prove to be a serious brake on the side's organisation and development.

What I disagree with is people mugging Koeman off like he's just got off the boat.

Koeman appeared to be building a hard-working, hard-running, hard-pressing team. An action-packed team that is all about winning the ball and going directly at the opposition. Rooney of old would be great at this.

Rooney of now, playing deep is not. He slows things down too much, puts his foot on the ball and lets the defence recover, runners run passed the point to get the early pass, and generally let the move break down so all momentum is lost and an easy ball sideways is all that is left. Sure, he can still pick a pass, but that falls within a patient build up side like Martinez had built, and Koeman has shifted all of those players on.

So the Rooney we are left with needs to play as a forward. This way he can had less of the pitch to cover. If he drops deeper, he needs to learn to drop 10 - 15 yards, not 30. He can also be more economical with his running if he plays a Number 9, as Lukaku showed last season, a number 9 can run little and still be very effective. If Rooney is no longer an athlete, then it is as a 9 that he needs to play.

Of course, there's some great Number 10s who ran little, lacked pace, and where still very effective, but this requires a different set of players, and a different type of tactics and, most importantly, it means we cannot properly employ the hard-pressing game Koeman wants to.

1. Keane had a steady debut. Looks composed and assured.
2. Klaassen looks a tidy player; intelligent and worked hard.
3. Gana was excellent as usual.
4. Sandro's positional play was excellent. He made some great runs and found space.
5. We won and kept a clean sheet.
6. We still have new additions to come in.
7. We are likely to go through to the next round.
8. The sky is not falling in.

I'm not even going to discuss the negatives as there are plenty of others to do that. I've learned to keep my glass half-full.

If Kenny had played instead of Martina, I am convinced he would have given us the pace and width that we lacked.

Martina is too conservative, he gets the ball and stops and doesn't go for the "wall pass " or get behind the full back as Kenny did regularly in the Under 20s World Cup as well as for our Under 23s.

And Calvert-Lewin in the middle to use his height and aerial prowess.

Calvert-Lewin can not play out wide properly. He can do just about do a job there but he simply is not a winger and should never be played there. We saw it last season so it should be no surprise. And everyone can see it. Except Koeman. Throw in his old pal at right back and our right side is a complete joke.

But Koeman's comments after the game worried me as he was saying he played him there as he felt the left back couldn't defend. That makes no sense as surely, if that was the case, Lennon or Sandro would have exploited the space much better than Calvert-Lewin could and did.

If he wants to play him, play him through the middle with Rooney and Sandro behind like you suggest. It's not rocket science.

Koeman deserves a shed load of criticism for what he did last night with tactics, selection and subs. We're in for a bumpy ride if he keeps playing his favourites and sticks to this formation come what may.

I can take lack of fitness. I can understand team gelling. I can't understand why the obvious is completely missed by our manager.

That Koeman gets rid of the width then plays strikers out wide makes no sense. It would have been a game for Lennon, he would have got a good reception and would have played well. Calvert-Lewin needs games to develop, but I can't see how playing right wing will develop him as a centre-forward.

I don't think Koeman is one to stick to a formation, he changed several times last season, he even changed several times in the middle of games. Perhaps it's his desire to be rigid last night so that the new players can learn his preferred system? Who knows? I'm sure time will tell.

So when will we see him next? The League Cup? But Holgate will need a run out then.

Other than that, we need a striker. An out-an-out striker. I'm not particularly suggesting a straight like-for-like replacement for Lukaku, but a striker who cannot be classed as anything but.

Additionally, we need to replace a couple of players who have not and never will be good enough. Mirallas being one of them. I've liked Mirallas, but he's a member of the 'class of inconsistency' and we need pace and creativity... quickly

Instead, I'll say, oaky, I'm being sarcastic, criticising Koeman indirectly via 'interpretation'. I think I'm justified, in part because I've supported him a lot since he arrived, but have become more sceptical as time has worn on, for very good reasons.

I wouldn't argue about Koeman's world class playing credentials. However, I feel I can comment on some aspects of his style of management, based on my experience of working. If I gave Koeman advice, it would be solid practical advice, nothing that relies on football expertise, but just on how to handle folks who you manage. I imagine many others could do the same, because his faults stuck out like a sore thumb.

I think it's unreasonable to criticise fans who are criticising Koeman in a way that at least tries to be balanced, which is all I'm doing. 'Earning' mega bucks doesn't guarantee expertise as a manager, as evidenced by many other managers including his predecessor. Neither does credentials as a player.

Perhaps we expected more from our team, given the opposition we were playing, but we won and have a clean sheet. However, it was effectively the first competitive match of the season.

One thing I will add is that Ronald Koeman was brought up with the Dutch Total Football style of play, where players are comfortable in playing in different positions.

I watched the U19s the other night – just the same. It might be okay if teams are dropping off but daft/crazy when teams are pressing. Decision-making is poor.

I thought Calvert-Lewin worked hard and looked like he's improving.

Stek is a decent back-up keeper.

Happy with Keane and Ramirez.

Gana still great.

You live by his style of management you die by it too. Plain speaking, I'm sure the fella would brook no argument based on his assessment of players and public utterances to date.

Koeman has I imagine been given more to spend than any other Everton manager, has for many been 'allowed' a season of transition and pragmatism to eke out 7th place despite citing European football as his goal when only 5th would guarantee you that.

As for his actual record, he's as peripatetic as a fly and not always of his choosing.

He is judged over the whole piece not on one game, and that to date is not to my eye, favourable.

He spoke before the game about added pressure/expectations and that he and the team can deal with that. He will have to.

He may yet find a more fluid way around things, Sigurdsson at left midfield and Giroud at centre forward may balance things out. It would relieve the midfield of the double locked Gana & Schneiderlin.

I won't wonder too hard though.

It's difficult to know what to make of the Barkley situation, but on the face of it, it has the classic signs of a management fuck-up. I'm not saying it is that, but it looks it. So this is an example where the management isn't inspiring me with confidence, however positive I try to be.

My wife joined me in watching the game last night. Her first match was when we beat Chelsea 6-0 and Latchford got his 30. So she knows what it's like when Everton and Goodison buzz. But she's not really an Evertonian, just an interested observer. Anyway, after about 15 minutes, I turned round and she was doing something else. I said, "Aren't you watching the game?"

She said, "Nothing's happening, I thought football was about trying to score goals, but the ball just seems to be passed backwards and sideways." I couldn't argue with her, and thought, her simple observation summed it up for me.

Hopefully it gets better. But I have more hope than reasonable expectation.

I was very pleased with Keane, Gueye and Sandro but I was really disappointed with Rooney, Klaassen, Baines and Schneiderlin who all performed in flashes but overall offered very little threat.

Although Schneiderlin is far more athletic than Barry, he has some way to go before he is as effective. I cannot see what aspect of Williams's game is better than that of Jagielka's. Klaassen will get better and, once Koeman recognises that he is not a lone striker, so will Rooney.

I really believe that Martina, Mirallas and Williams are not good enough and despite one outstanding save neither is Stekelenburg.

I'm still hopeful of a good season in the Premier League but, if there isn't a sharp improvement in our performance next week, then our European experience will be short-lived.

While I appreciate the match is away in Slovakia, some TV company will be televising it and ITV4 should, I would have thought, purchase the rights from them.

Negotiations are probably and hopefully ongoing which would explain why there is no mention as yet in the TV schedule.

On a lighter note, after last night, I don't know if I will have recovered mentally to watch the game should it be on!

He looked very uncomfortable at right wing but I can't deny his effort. Tactical blunderclass from Ron.

"What's recurring, Ron?"

Da do Ron, Ron.

Hope you're right, Steve (#35), that Kenny will be this season's Davies.

I thought he was outstanding for the amount of time he had. The lad is just action-packed and, unlike others, when he gets the ball, there is only one direction he wants to go and that's forward.

Maybe play Keane as our Number 10 – he played more forward passes than rest of team put together.

People harp on about how talented Barkley is. I think it's more potential he 'had' – as he has never progressed. Bring in Sigurdsson – a true talent!

Doesn't bode well for the season ahead, like!

It is very clear Rooney is not the player he once was, he needs to get fitter, but can he? I reckon he could still change the odd game and score a few goals alright, but it's his experience and how to manage games that will be most useful to Koeman.

The Dutch player Klaassen has played in a very ordinary league and playing in the hustle and bustle of the Premier League week-in & week-out will be like night and day and he needs to hit the ground running so to speak – he looks very light weight to me and should have scored last night.

Williams reminds me of Distin a little, he can be very steady, definetly committed and playing well and then out of nowhere will make a bad pass, bad decision or rash challenge.

We were lucky to win this game and anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go to spec savers. Of course it is early days, but make no mistake this is a huge season for Koeman who is under pressure to build a winning team.

Lukaku's goals are going to be hard to replace; surely a striker must be a priority for Koeman. (I was chatting to a guy today that told me we had enquired about Shane Long... I can't believe that but because of the links, who knows?)

The season is only a couple of weeks away and it's a very tough start for us; Koeman needs to get this group of players gelling and quickly.

Some, maybe much of that is due to the tedious formulae of modern football; but we decide how we play. It would be nice to go to the match and relish it.

A. I was being polite calling you my mate, I don't be friend clowns.

B. You see a lot that I don't see clearly hence the fact you seen a world class player when watching Rooney on Thursday night.

C. Your quick enough to jump all over Stan with your sarcasm, take a bit of your own medicine without acting like a tart.

Is that alright?

As it is, it doesn't look like we can afford to dispense with a talent like Ross Barkley as lightly as Koeman is doing, any more than we could afford to dispense with Deulofeu's.

No amount of 'coachspeak' sugar-coating by Koeman about what he unfathomably calls "De Project" can change the fact that we were, in effect, playing Runcorn and couldn't get the job done right.

I enjoyed the game, well the 5 minutes highlights on YouTube. Oh and that Jack Wilshere link... boring 7 minutes of the same thing with no end product, I switched off, did it eventually show him making any assist or scoring goals.

Right now, it's a concern, though we definitely have the players to step up and put the tie to bed! We could still have scored more this leg, despite our still-to-be-rectified pre-season frailties (yes, I know they could have scored too!

Football... Everton, hey?) so, come on lads, let's get this thing sorted and lets move forwards with some ever-building positivity!!! (Hopes and dreams, huh?)

Well, it's just not good enough, is it? At least we should now know what we've got to do! More wishes and hopes, then.. (ps: Has Koeman killed Kenny?.. Bastard!!!)

Last season, it was because he had inherited Martinez's chaos, this season – it's too early, players need time to gel, can't cure all ills in one window (though it is now 2.5).

Maybe it is that Koeman is an uninspiring, limited , conservative coach?

I for one am being very reserved, and am sceptical about Koeman's management abilities overall, and his tactical nous particularly, former great player or not.

Look at Sandro – as soon's he came on he was like a kid with ADHD...lively...making efforts, evading the opponents to find his space. It's just wrong – no wonder Koeman is content as he said, 'don't under-estimate this team.' I think Everton boys took this too literally or used it as an excuse for this really shit performance.

We played at Goodison Park, not bloody bandit country! It's this blasé attitude that needs to change. We need to mean business from the time the whistle blows at the beginning to full time whistle. I just expect better and I am only an armchair supporter, so to speak.

It's as though Everton don't take these pre-seasons seriously. This team, according to Oppenheimer's manager, is like a League Two club; he was expecting 4-1 or 5-1 to Everton. This 1-0 win for the second leg is like a dream come true now – they don't have to do much to win. Their goal-keeper just makes himself big and puts in a good shift. Just mediocre... no worse, shit.

I went to the match with my son and I was expecting more too. But it was soon apparent that the team was nowhere near match fit and they were playing a team who were about 3 or 4 weeks further on in their preseason, and having already played a round of the competition too. Whether they really are better than we expected I'm not sure but they certainly were on the night.

Some of those players played their first full 90 minutes of the season on Thursday and it showed. Some like Martina probably didn't know everyone's name yet, regardless of some opinions of him. But you couldn't really criticise the effort they put in.

The holes in the squad also showed, no width or pace and square pegs in round holes like Calvert-Lewin out wide and no centre-forward. These will hopefully be improved, maybe by Thursday, but a job to be done there.

I expected a 4-0 win or something like that, but it was clear pretty quickly that this wasn't going to happen, so my expectation was unrealistic basically. The guys sitting around me came to the same view. All the kids around me just spent the night cheering for Rooney.

But that is no reason to be rushing to judgement quite yet, especially given an unprecedented recruitment programme which is still incomplete.

Early days.

Occasionally some posts make me laugh, like the the early one about the other team having their own boots and everything. Then there are the more balanced views, which I can not make reference too because I know nothing about football. What I do know is that people in general are fickle with their views, but football fans take it to a whole new level.

I love the drama in their posts, like it means something when in reality their views or rants make no difference to what goes on in how the football club they unconditionally love is run.

So I don't have to get a grip, because I do have a grip on the whole concept of this madness that is football. TW is a brilliant form of entertainment to me, just as the team in blue are.

I delight in the wins, especially if they won in the style of the 80s team that I had the privilege to witness first hand. And I get pissed off if we loose, especially to those over the park, but never long enough to spoil my day.

It's only a game despite that dick from Scotland saying it was more than life or death. So in conclusion the panic merchants carry on being drama queens, the dreamers keep on dreaming while the realists see it for what it is, just a game.

I predict that Everton FC will have another average season, because the reality is, we missed the boat when the premier league started. Rooney! Rooney!!, Rooney!!!

People like the late Harold Matthews and now George McKane always manage to bring some calm and perspective and I wish I could manage it. I vow every season not to get wound up but can't help myself. Every game is a torment when it should be a pleasure. Ridiculous.

Anyway it's all great fun, sort of.

Koeman has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't rate him and doesn't want him and forced this matter by ludicrously insisting on a signed contract by a specific deadline, then sidelining and marginalizing him. It is not necessary.

And, Mark Anderson, the knives aren't out for Koeman. If he succeeds, Everton succeeds. However, he has done very little to show that he intends to bring entertaining, attacking, winning football back to Goodison, especially when he dumps two of the most exciting players to pull on an Everton shirt for years.

,,BlueKfrog,1,16:37:57,,81.153.125.186,ok,17777,07/29/2017 16:37:57,GeoffW,reader,, 835458,35265,toffeeweb,29/07/2017,Jeff Armstrong,aa7028@sky.com,"Mahrez at £35 million, or Ieanacho at £25 million would be better value than Sigurdsson at £50 million, but then Ronnie does like a slow midfielder or 6, doesn't he!

But he hasn't been forced out. He has been offered a contract. He was in Koeman's team just about every match last season. Koeman said publicly he wanted him to sign the contract, just with the fairly obvious and honest caveat that, if he doesn't, the club would be forced to sell him.

Barkley is choosing to leave, not being forced out. He wasn't frozen out with the reserves. He wasn't barred from pre season training. He was offered a contract and refused it.

And he has now apparently told Koeman he wants a new challenge. That's his right. But Koeman did not freeze him out. How you would claim such a thing is beyond me.

Don't infantalize Barkley as being a poor little boy who was terribly mistreated by Koeman. He was rightly criticized for some below par performances and challenged to improve. He was dropped by England because his performance had dropped. Yet still he was offered a contract to stay and he has chosen to leave.

Tony Hill, I like your post and I concur especially with your recognition of Harold Matthews and now George McKane. I was gutted the day Alan Ball was sold, and a part of me left the club aged 10, only to return in the 80s by chance and boy what a great time it was to be a blue.

As an entertainer, I recently put a tribute act together called The Birth of the Beatles and The Swinging 60s in which I sing songs mostly from the Fab Four and all the other MerseyBeat bands from that era. When asked by the agent here in Perth Australia to finish my show with You'll Never Walk Alone, well put it this way: I lost work rather than sing that fucking song. I told him "Tell the DJ to play it, while I go for a shite."

Yes it's hard being a blue sometimes, but when it's good, it's the best.

You'll never shite alone?

Well said and spot on. Exactly why some have to commit massive diatribe in infinite detail, that goes on and on, that drains the pleasure and love out of being a Blue l don't understand. I don't know why you wallow in misery but please keep it short or even better to yourselves.

Most posts of a critical nature are reasonably balanced, looking at details. I know it's fashionable to be (or rather, look) positive all the time, but that's just as extreme as dark pessimism.

Koeman has positive features to his management, but also shortcomings that have become apparent over the past year. We could pretend they don't exist, and that the future will be a golden age of silverware, but really?

This kind of irrational approach makes debates become polarised into 'lovers' and 'haters' (another fashionable term) very quickly – something which is nice to avoid if we can.

If this is Liverpool pre-season and our poor game against Ruzomberok is anything to go by, how can Koeman be 'satisfied' with our performance? If we lose on Thursday, I believe our Euro games will be over before they even began.

Keep a clean sheet and score "just" once in every match and we'd be Premier League Champions, FA Cup Winners, League/Carling Cup Winners (whatever it's called now) and Europa League champions.

And I bet some on here would still complain and demand a new manager.