I can fix it, says rocking Ronald
RONALD KOEMAN is clinging to his job after a terrible week ended with Everton being demolished by Arsenal.
Everton have suffered their worst start to a Premier League season since 2005 and this defeat leaves them in the bottom three.
Farhad Moshiri, the club’s majority shareholder, watched the game with chairman Bill Kenwright but no decision was made last night about how long Koeman will be given to change the situation.
They now face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday before a potentially season- defining trip to Leicester next Sunday.
Thomas Tuchel, Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti will come into Everton’s thoughts if they decide to make a change but, for the moment, Koeman limps on.
He insisted: ‘I still personally believe I can change the whole situation. But everybody knows how it works in football. I spoke to the players and everybody is disappointed. It’s how you look at the situation. If you start to think negatively then maybe there is no solution. I am not like that.’
He was spared the fury of Evertonians at the final whistle, as the ground began emptying after Alexandre Lacazette had made it 3-1. But the ill-feeling towards him from supporters is impossible to ignore.
If Moshiri trusts Koeman to turn this around, he should say so. This was not the picture he expected to be painted after investing £150million. Steve Walsh, the club’s director of football, cannot escape criticism for the summer transfer policy that failed to see Everton land the striker they desperately needed.
‘Once again it’s all rumours and newspapers talking about my future but that’s normal,’ said Koeman. ‘The team is underperforming and in a difficult situation mentally, they are struggling for confidence.
‘That’s what we need to change. The final result is a big defeat. We started well but even in the beginning we had difficulties stopping Arsenal creating chances and the role Alexis Sanchez played in made him really difficult to stop.
‘Then there was the sending- off of Idrissa Gana Gueye. It was already difficult 11 v 11, so it was even more difficult, impossible 10 against 11.’
When he was asked to give an example of what positives should be clung to, Koeman said bluntly: ‘Don’t talk about positives. The final result is 5-2, a defeat at home. Write what you like to write.’
With that, he headed briskly out of the press auditorium.
‘Write what you want to write,’ was also Steve McClaren’s parting shot after England’s laboured victory against Andorra 10 years ago. McClaren lasted a little longer, but Koeman is on the brink.