Koeman admits Everton are up against it in Group E

Thursday, 19 October, 2017 29comments  |  Jump to most recent

Ronald Koeman bemoaned his players' mistakes and lack of confidence, the standard of refereeing and a shortage of luck for Everton's defeat to Lyon which leaves them with slim hopes of progressing to the next stage of the Europa League.

The Blues came back from a goal down to equalise in the second half through Ashley Williams after the Welsh international had escaped a red card for instigating a pitch-side brawl but were beaten by Bertrand Traore's 75th-minute strike.

It was Everton's sixth defeat in the last 10 games, a continuation of poor form in the Premier League that has left the club in 16th place and intensified the scrutiny of Koeman's performance as manager.

His charges face Arsenal on Sunday desperately needing a victory to ease the pressure on the Dutchman's shoulders but he admits it will be difficult because morale is so low in the camp.

Article continues below video content


“We made too many mistakes,” Koeman said. “It was thanks to Jordan Pickford that the score was only 2-1. We started well but made a really stupid fault after just five minutes.

“I have no complaints, it was the right decision from the referee to give a penalty, but there were a lot more mistakes and bad decisions after that. That's what we are looking at the moment: doubts, errors, and players without confidence. I know from my playing days what that does to you.

“When you are short of confidence you make poor decisions, as Davy Klaassen did when going for a shot instead of putting in Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

“We need to improve on the ball. We made many mistakes. We need to play more direct, instead of trying to play short - we don't have the confidence (to do it) at the moment.

“We are in a difficult situation now because you only get confidence from winning and we have an important game [with Arsenal] at the weekend. I think it is going to be very difficult for us now in Europe too, you normally win most of your points at home and we only have one from two games.

“Nothing is impossible, but to gain more points — and I think we need six or seven — we need to improve the level and that is more important.”

Dutch referee, Bas Nijhuis, either took lenient action in response to the melée that erupted midway through the second half after Williams barged into goalkeeper Anthony Lopes on the byline in front of the Gwladys Street End or his view of the incident was obscured by the sheer number of players involved.

He showed yellow cards to Williams and Traore but Koeman was unhappy with his compatriot's officiating overall.

“I couldn't see exactly what happened behind the goal, a lot of players were involved, but I can fully understand my players being frustrated,” Koeman explained. “I told the officials what I thought at the end of the game. I know the referee was Dutch, but he failed to do anything about Nabil Fekir diving about 10 times.

“Kenny Tete too, it was happening all the time, and he allowed their physio to come on to the pitch.Then he only added on five minutes at the end, and that's after six substitutions, two goals and a fight. I think the players were mainly acting out of frustration, and I can understand why.”

 

Reader Comments (29)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Dean Johnson
1 Posted 20/10/2017 at 06:56:37
A really really bad workman...
Tom Abdy
2 Posted 20/10/2017 at 07:37:03
Talk about excuses... Just not good enough.
Peter Larkin
3 Posted 20/10/2017 at 07:40:20
Is this idiot still in a job? Bottom of the group, few points off relegation, scored 5 goals in the Premier League, team look clueless. I fear we will sit on our hands until Xmas which maybe too late. It has the hallmarks of West Ham a few seasons ago.
Gerard Carey
4 Posted 20/10/2017 at 07:57:56
Who and what else can he blame!? The buck stops with him, end of.
David Connor
5 Posted 20/10/2017 at 08:51:05
No more excuses. Get shut ASAP before this clown has us in the Championship. We are that bad.
Andy Meighan
7 Posted 20/10/2017 at 09:20:54
The worrying thing is, whoever does come in, if he is to get the sack will be that he's left with the same shit squad. There's not one of his signings that have been a complete success.

Pickford looks a good keeper but his distribution is questionable.
Keane looks stiff, nervous and out of sorts.
Gueye was brilliant until he went off to the Afcon; after that, his game has suffered because of Schneiderlin clogging up his space.
Bolasie flashes of brilliance at times but few and far between.
Vlasic is a strange one: starts games really well but seems to strangely go missing... jury out on him.
Martina another Koeman fuck up
Lookman: see Bolasie but youth on his side.
Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Klaassen, Sandro, Williams... Well let's not even go there.

Awful acquisitions and nearly –140 million pissed up the wall, in my opinion.

The rest are nothing to do with Koeman, mind:
Jagielka and Baines have been great servants but time is up now.
Calvert Lewin is all graft and endeavour but no quality.
Holgate has badly been shunted around and is never a full back but rash at times.
Besic spent more time in casualty than Charlie Fairhurst; bad buy.
Mirallas has blown hot and cold under Koeman... mainly cold.
Davies... not sure what to make of him this season but, while Ron is in charge, we won't see the best of him.
Kenny is obviously not rated by the manager...

Looks a pretty average squad to me and one, Rooney, apart looks like it won't have the required quality or bottle to pull out of trouble. The worry, and one that keeps me awake at night, is Koeman getting more money to spend in January... because this board sure as hell won't sack him.

Brian Porter
8 Posted 20/10/2017 at 09:32:16
Excuses, excuses, all we get from Koeman is excuses. What else can he come up with? Maybe, "we were playing on the wrong kind of grass?"

He's a first-class bullshitter who has absolutely no idea how to turn things round. Who coaches the team? Who selects the team? Who decides what tactics to employ? Whose job is it to instill both discipline and motivation in the players?

Koeman is quick to blame anything and everyone except himself for his own abysmal decision-making and inept man-management and team selection.

I'm with the commentators last night who blatantly said that Koeman's team was bereft of ideas and motivation and that Koeman will be lucky to still be in a job by the weekend. They also said that Koeman has a 'cold relationship' with the fans, who just can't take to him whereas across the park, Liverpool fans virtually idolise Klopp.

All I want to see now is Koeman gone and to be honest, I don't think anyone could do a worse job than he has. Act now, Moshiri, before the atmosphere at Goodison truly turns toxic.

James Hughes
9 Posted 20/10/2017 at 09:46:36
He is just sucking the joy out of watching Everton. You tune in with a sense of trepidation, not anticipation of what might happen. His team selections are making Walter Smith look like a tactical genius and he is a walking book of excuses.

It's very rare that I agree with anything that Simon Jordan says but his comments on Sky are spot on:-

"Looking at him on the sidelines, he looks dishevelled, he looks like he's put on weight, he looks unkempt. He doesn't look like somebody that's in control of the situation.

"I think he's one of those who is quite adept at passing the blame and I know that he has quite a high opinion of himself."

Says it all

Shane Corcoran
10 Posted 20/10/2017 at 10:06:30
Hanging Klaassen out in public won't help his fragile confidence.

What's the ref supposed to do if players go down looking for treatment? He has to let the physio on. Was it an Everton game last year where the ref tried to call a player's bluff by not letting the physio on but then eventually had to give in?

James Lauwervine
11 Posted 20/10/2017 at 10:07:52
I can't agree with that James (#9). He's growing a beard, he's not dishevelled. Is anyone really suggesting that he's lost the plot so much he can't spend 3 mins having a shave?

He also doesn't look like he's put on weight to me, he's been a bit of a podgo since he arrived. Having said that, I agree that he doesn't like look he's in control of the situation, but not because of his appearance.

He also does pass the blame and singling out Klaassen, whose confidence is clearly gone, is a poor decision.

I want him gone from our club, but strangely I actually felt a bit for him last night. He tried to change things on the pitch (long overdue) and when we equalised, I thought we were going to go on and win the game. Had Sigurdsson's free kick gone in for 2-1, I think we would have.

Anyway, we lost and surely his days are running out.

Dave O'Connell
12 Posted 20/10/2017 at 10:37:33
How long before the board act? It may be next year when we are relegated. The whole club is a joke and it's not fair on the best fans in England to put up with this shit anymore.
Stan Schofield
13 Posted 20/10/2017 at 11:07:35
Brian @8: The only reason the fans don't take to Koeman is that our results are rubbish.

Regarding Klopp, plenty of Liverpool supporters were calling for his head when they we're getting bad results last season. It's all down to results at the end of the day.

Michael Lynch
14 Posted 20/10/2017 at 11:17:40
As has been said, the buck stops with Koeman and, at this stage, I don't see the players' confidence returning until they have a new manager.

Having said that, the vast majority of our players have been absolutely fucking dreadful this season. Whether a new man can get much more out of them remains to be seen.

Stan Schofield
15 Posted 20/10/2017 at 12:32:33
Michael, I think there's every chance the players would perform better under the right manager. The likes of Keane and Sigurdsson, for example, were very good players before coming to Everton, but they're now playing for a manager who doesn't seem to have a clue, either about tactics or man-management.
Colin Glassar
16 Posted 20/10/2017 at 12:38:06
Can we qualify on 10 points? Thought not.

I honestly think we’ve got the potential to be a very good team (with a striker) with some very good players. What we are lacking is organisation and spirit and that is down to Koeman.

Jer Kiernan
17 Posted 20/10/2017 at 13:06:17
I agree to the extent that he looks a bit rough, but this proves he does actually give a shit which has been questioned by many on here.

Yes, he has made a lot of mistakes and it is hard to watch , however some of the "performances" from these "Big Time "signings has been disheartening.

I noted Holgate laughing his ass off at final whistle last night after having another nightmare. (How many goals this year can be directly attributed to his schoolboy errors?) Preferred position or not, it would be hard not to want to put him through a wall were you in the dressing room with that attitude. Keane was atrocious yet again.

One of Moyes's best attributes was being able to sign and pick players with character and fight and dump those without. Unfortunately, the current crop have neither, as pointed out by Peter Reid last week

I would give him until the start of November but it will be hard for anybody to turn it around with the attitude of the likes of Holgate.


David Graves
18 Posted 20/10/2017 at 13:22:09
Colin, I agree that there is an obvious lack of spirit and organisation. Clearly Koeman's failing. And he picked both fullbacks and Klaassen last night so again his fault but... I can't see that we have some very good players.

I genuinely fear for how vulnerable we are across the back and I honestly don't see us creating or scoring enough goals. We are going to have to score 40+ goals if we are going to "survive" and I really worry where they are going to come from.

Peter Cummings
19 Posted 20/10/2017 at 13:25:44
A lot of Koeman's critics, and I am one, who want him gone seem to think that, come the Xmas 'market' things will change for the better. But, if they don't, and we are still in the same position by then, the only 'name' players available would only come for the money – because we will probably be out of everything else worth winning.
Dave Lynch
20 Posted 20/10/2017 at 13:29:16
Parachute payment will pay for the new ground?

Just a thought...

Dave Williams
21 Posted 20/10/2017 at 13:39:59
Both players and manager are to blame – I agree, Holgate should be ashamed of finding anything remotely funny after that; I recall Dunne and Ball being moved on by Smith after similar behaviour many years ago.

Ultimately this management lark is not rocket science. You look at the players you've got,get rid of the ones you don't want and buy the ones you want and can afford,throw in the youngsters to supplement then decide on a team with a formation and style of play.

It's no good playing from the back if the players aren't suited to that. Play a style which suits the players.

It's no good playing Davy when he is so out of sorts – let Unsy sort him out in the U23s while he gets some form and confidence back.

Our buying is like sending a child to buy food for dinner- he will buy the food he likes with no thought as to whether it will blend together to make a nice meal. Whoever is responsible for Rooney, Sigurdsson and Klaassen all coming in needs shooting.

Why leave no cover at left back and end up last night with decent wingers attacking makeshift fullbacks?It all seems so basic.

We all got excited early on in the summer with some early buys but it has gone very sour and when you lose your enthusiasm to watch because you are embarrassed to hear others slate the club it is a poor state of affairs.

Ronald cannot hope to unite the players when he constantly criticises them in public – the great managers never did this- he seems clueless to me. Surely a bad defeat against Arsenal will be curtains for him and maybe Walsh too if he is responsible for the unbalanced signings.

Very disheartening times!

Mike Berry
22 Posted 20/10/2017 at 14:21:40
Is he reading Bobby's book of excuses? Laughable.

I take no notice as his comments are ludicrous now, he has been found out. Unfortunately, not all great players make great managers; he is wearing the cloak of a charlatan!

Rudi Coote
23 Posted 20/10/2017 at 15:05:37
That's it then. No chance of progressing in this competition. Sad thing is, we all knew it anyway.

Koeman has to go and take his excuses with him. Time for a change before it's too late. Once we're in The Championship, it will be a very hard task to be promoted.

Blackburn, Luton, Sheffield Wed, Wigan, Portsmouth, Leeds Utd... and many more.

This may seem negative, well it's supposed to be. Can anyone see any positives in this club?

Oh and forget Bramley-Moore – it won't happen.

William Cartwright
24 Posted 20/10/2017 at 16:29:29
Is the Grim Reaper going to show up at the Arsenal game, or is he going to wait until after the Chelsea match?
Will Mabon
25 Posted 20/10/2017 at 16:55:45
William, I bet the stewards are on notice to look out for the Grim Reaper, could be a tough ask to get himself into the ground.

Maybe the towed banner is not the answer now, but to have old Grim lowered in from a chopper? Might trump Action Fan in the news, too.

Mike Allen
26 Posted 20/10/2017 at 20:57:45
I just don't get treating cup games as second fiddle to the Premier League – you only get one chance in the cups.

Win, lose or draw, the Premier League is over 38 games – always a chance in the next game to put things right.

Andy Meighan
27 Posted 20/10/2017 at 22:46:38
Dave (#21),

I never got excited early on in the summer... Far from it.

I saw him buying or chasing average players who I knew wouldn't make a difference to us. That's why I said in June, "We won't finish in the top half of the table because this fella hasn't got a clue."

Now I'd give my right arm to finish 10th. Got to win 1 in 3 from now just to stay up. This squad won't be able to do that. Mark my word...

Mike Allison
28 Posted 21/10/2017 at 02:10:16
Very rare for football fans to say this, but I thought we got away with quite a few last night. Davies should've been booked, Williams was very lucky and in general the ref was lenient towards our players when they let their frustrations get the better of them.

Not to say there weren't a few examples of play acting and subterfuge that from Lyon but the ref also waved their lads up quite a few times as well.

Niall McIlhone
29 Posted 21/10/2017 at 09:06:15
We are currently showing relegation form, and Koeman is showing glaring limitations in his ability to manage and inspire the team. That, in itself, means he should walk- if he has any integrity; he should not force the board to sack him, and it would also make him more employable if he left by mutual consent.

The evident lack of spirit and drive is the most damning thing: the days of seeing a limited, but highly committed Everton team under Moyes seem an eternity away. I think we are also raising false hopes if we think the return to fitness of Bolasie, Coleman and Funes Mori would make a big impact. If Koeman is still in the job, we won't be set up properly to make the best of their abilities.

Our performances in the Europa League have fallen well short of the mark, and it has further damaged confidence for weekend Premier League games, in fact they compare very poorly with many of the Europa League showings under Martinez. Ronald cannot talk his way out of repeated bad results – end of.

We are all tired of him now.

Brian Porter
30 Posted 21/10/2017 at 17:41:28
Totally agree, Mike #26. There is no way we were ever going to win the league this season, so Koeman should have prioritised the cups as our best chance of silverware, which he must know the club and supporters are desperate for. Especially the Europa League, with its passport inti the Champions League for winners. Instead the Clueless one put out a weakened team against Lyon, inviting another defeat and they duly obliged. Was this classed as an 'expected defeat?'

My heart is just not in it anymore. After 59 years as an Everton supporter, Koeman has succeeded in making me feel totally indifferent towards the team, simply because I now expect defeat every time they take the field. The man who has made me feel that way is Ronald Koeman of course, our so called top manager.

Does everyone realise that in his three managerial roles before Southampton, this 'top manager' was first sacked by Valencia after taking the team from 5th in La Liga to the verge of relegation in 22 games, then he was sacked by AZ Alkmar after recording 7 defeats in his first 15 games, and he then spent two years at Feyenoord, where, after failing to win the league, he threw his toys out of the pram and walked away, resigned, saying he wanted to pursue 'other interests'.

That, in a nutshell, is the most recent pedigree of our so called 'top manager.' Southampton's fans are laughing their socks off at us now, as are virtually every knowledgeable football fan in England.

What the fuck was Moshiri thinking when he hired this fraud on £6 million a year?


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads