Irish Daily Mail

KOEMAN: I DO GET ON WITH MY PLAYERS

Blues boss remains calm

- By DOMINIC KING

RONALD KOEMAN insists his bond with his squad remains strong as he explained how past experience is enabling him to retain perspectiv­e.

Everton’s manager has had to remind senior players of their responsibi­lities to help the club arrest their poor sequence of results.

A 3-0 win over Sunderland in the Carabao Cup brought some respite but Koeman knows the spotlight will stay on him until Everton are out of the relegation zone.

Koeman endured difficult spells at previous clubs and while this one has stretched his patience, he maintains it can’t be compared to the calamity he endured at Valencia when he was sacked after six months in 2008.

‘You can’t compare Valencia with Everton or Southampto­n or Benfica or PSV because that was really difficult,’ said Koeman. ‘It was a revolution with a new stadium that was not built and still isn’t finished I believe. It was the wrong club at the wrong time.

‘But even when it is a negative period it is a learning point. That is OK and no problem now. It was a bad experience but even a bad experience can be good for the future.

‘The most important thing is the connection with the players.

‘If you feel you still have that good connection with the players and you think they are committed then that is the key point. The rest is all about decisions that don’t belong to the manager.’

Koeman, whose side face Bournemout­h today, added: ‘I don’t have any reason to doubt my connection with the players at Everton.’

Everton boss Ronald Koeman has no doubt forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin is taking ‘big steps’ at the moment.

Having been brought into the starting XI for Wednesday’s clash with Sunderland, the 20-year-old shone brightly in a 3-0 victory for the Toffees, scoring twice as well as hitting a post.

Calvert-Lewin, who has four Everton goals in total, made headlines over the summer as he notched the winner for England in the Under 20s World Cup final.

And this week he was nominated, alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, for the 2017 Golden Boy award, given to the player aged under 21 deemed the most impressive in Europe during the calendar year.

Koeman feels the man signed in August 2016 from Sheffield United needs to improve ‘in most aspects’ but rates him as ‘really a big talent’.

Asked ahead of Saturday’s Premier League home clash with Bournemout­h how good he felt Calvert-Lewin could be, the Dutchman said: ‘That’s all about the future. I think he’s making big steps at the moment, and nobody knows where it will end.

‘In most aspects of football I think he needs to improve — in holding the ball, in his movements. He can be more clinical.

‘But if you are looking at other strikers of his age, he is really a big talent.

‘I think the boy is really discipline­d, he’s hard-working and he likes to improve. He’s listening, and if you ask something (of him), with all his commitment he tries to show that.

‘He can play in different positions — he was playing as a nine, but he can also play as an 11, a seven, with two strikers. There’s a lot of possibilit­ies with Dominic in the team.’

Calvert-Lewin will hope to retain his starting place against Bournemout­h after being one of eight players brought in for the Sunderland match, which saw Everton halt a four-game losing streak during which they had conceded 12 goals and scored none.

Also contributi­ng to the moraleboos­t on Wednesday was Oumar Niasse, who came off the bench to make his first Toffees appearance since May 2016 and marked it with a fine finish.

Koeman said of the previously­frozen out Senegal forward: ‘Of course he’s in my mind for the weekend — but I have 29 players.

‘His attitude has been positive.’

Koeman has James McCarthy (knee), Ross Barkley (hamstring), Yannick Bolasie, Ramiro Funes Mori (both knee) and Seamus Coleman (broken leg) unavailabl­e.

And giving updates on McCarthy, Bolasie and Coleman, the manager said: ‘James is struggling with his fitness but I expect him back in training next week.

‘Yannick and Seamus are both working hard, going in the right direction, but it’s long-term injuries.

‘Normally, we expect them back in full training in November.’

“His attitude has been really positive for us”

 ??  ?? Sticky situation: Toffees manager Ronald Koeman
Sticky situation: Toffees manager Ronald Koeman
 ??  ?? Bright future: Calvert-Lewin
Bright future: Calvert-Lewin

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