PREMIER LEAGUE Koeman comes out fighting for his job
RONALD Koeman has shrugged off the mounting pressure on his position and insisted he is the right man to lead Everton.
The club have suffered a draining start to the season and the focus on Koeman increased after Everton were held 2-2 by Apollon Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday — a result which saw them booed off.
An increasing number of Evertonians are sceptical about Koeman and the slow style of football his side have been playcaused ing, but he came out fighting yesterday at the club’s Finch Farm base.
Koeman is usually businesslike and economical with his words but, during a 13-minute conversation away from the TV cameras, he was more animated than at any point during the 16 months he has been at Goodison Park.
Asked if he was worried about his future, Koeman said: ‘No. No. Not worried. Why do I need to be worried? Because the fans are unhappy? No. All teams spent more. Huddersfield spent £35million. We spent £50-£45m.’
He then chuckled with incredulity when asked if results had him to lose sleep. ‘I should be worried about my future?’ Koeman asked. ‘I’m not worried because I believe in myself and the players. If the club makes another decision, it is up to the club. If I am worried, how can I live? Enjoy life!
‘I was s*** after (Limassol) but now I’m different. I’d like to finish the contract (which ends in 2019) but I’m not worried. If you worry, there’s no life. There are 20 Premier League clubs, 20 managers. Maybe 10, 12, 13 worry every day.
‘If I’m not good enough, they (Everton) will get another one. I do my best. If it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough. I was at Valencia for six months. It happens to everybody: Ancelotti, Van Gaal, Mourinho.’
The question remains about what he does to repair his team’s shaky mental state and why Everton’s play is so predictable.
He attributes the problems to a failure to sign a target man and, for the first time, he confirmed Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud was his main target to fill the void left by the sale of Romelu Lukaku.
Everton have pursued the France star since July and they were ready to pay £40m, but he never gave them much encouragement. Everton considered other options — taking Diego Costa on loan being one — but it is still an area Koeman wants addressing and the pressure is on director of football Steve Walsh to come up with suitable targets.
‘We were unlucky,’ said Koeman. ‘You can’t always sign somebody to replace Lukaku. I expected more goals from others. We have three strikers. (Oumar) Niasse is the third and we have Dominic (Calvert-Lewin) and (Sandro) Ramirez. Totally different types. That was the reason we needed a target man. We thought we had Giroud and that didn’t happen.
‘I will fight every second to make the team better. If you don’t win, you have problems.’