Shadow of Lukaku looms over Koeman

UNDER-FIRE boss Ronald Koeman places his unbeaten record at Old Trafford on the line today with the shadow of Romelu Lukaku hanging over him.

The Dutchman (above), who has come in for flak from Toffees fans on the back of three straight defeats, knows the pressure will increase if former striker Lukaku delivers today for Manchester United.

But Koeman has avoided defeat at United’s home on previous trips with Southampton and Everton last season.

He said: “It’s easier to be manager when everything goes well because you don’t have any problems – and we have had a bad run of results.

“But, after Manchester United, we have four fixtures at home – Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, Apollon Limassol in the Europa League, Bournemouth and Burnley – and it’s really important we come through that period with wins.”

He trusts the Everton board are not as trigger-happy as their Crystal Palace counterparts, who sent fellow Dutchman Frank de Boer packing after four games.

Koeman added: “Yeah, OK, I think it’s not positive to compare with what happened with Frank de Boer – because that’s crazy. You sign a manager because you want to play differently, then, after four games or four weeks, you say, ‘No, no, no, I don’t like it’ and, ‘We’ll sack the manager and take another one’.

“Of course, I know the board here is different – but it’s football, it’s business.”

And, on Lukaku, Koeman said: “It was close to impossible to get someone in who will score the same amount of goals that Romelu scored for Everton.

“It is a shadow over us, but we knew about it last season that we could lose Lukaku for this one. And, yes, it is a big miss.”