Giroud did a U-turn and then I saw the fixtures ..‘phew, this is not going to be easy’
RONALD KOEMAN feared his days as Everton boss were numbered during the summer holiday spent at his villa in Portugal.
Two major problems loomed immediately on his horizon.
First, the Premier League fixtures and, second, Everton’s inability to sign a replacement for £90million Romelu Lukaku.
Koeman, speaking for the first time since his sacking on Monday, revealed: “I had Olivier Giroud in the building. He would have fitted perfectly.
“But, at the very last moment, he decided he’d rather live in London and stay at Arsenal. That was really hard to swallow. You tell me, where you can get a better striker?
“Lukaku was so important for us, not just because of his goals. He had a certain way of playing as a striker. Strong, he could hold the ball, he always had an eye for goal, he was fast.
“If things were not going well in a game, if we could not play the way we were used to, there was always the option to use the long ball towards him.
“All of a sudden, when Giroud did his U-turn, we were missing such a player. With Nikola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, we had attackers who want the ball at their feet.
“When you are struggling as a team with the build-up from the back – and we no longer had the option to kick it long – you know you have a problem.’’
He added: “I was on holiday when I received the Premier League fixture list by email. I looked at it and saw that five of our first nine games would be against clubs from last season’s top six – Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Man United and Arsenal.
“I looked at it again and I said to myself, ‘Phew! This is not going to be an easy run, in particular with a Europa League run at the same time and a really early start because of the European games’. And, most of all, because I had lost my striker, Lukaku.’’
The Dutchman spent £140m on new players, but said: “We sold Lukaku for £90m.
“Our most expensive signing, Gylfi Sigurdsson, cost half that amount. Of course, it is a lot of money, but, in England, the football world has different figures. All players in England cost more than what they are really worth. That is how this market operates here.”
Koeman accepts that Everton fans were entitled to have big expectations.
“Absolutely, because this Everton was much more our own team than last season,” he added.
“We were allowed to buy players and it was me who said that I had the ambition to attack the top six in the Premier League. I have never shunned big challenges, even knowing that there are no guarantees that we would actually fulfil the expectations.
“When we had to face Burnley at home, after a poor start, everyone expected an Everton victory. But we lost 1-0. That is the Premier League for you,” he explained to Dutch football magazine VI.
“The strength of all the clubs in the Premier League makes it really difficult to climb out of a
Giroud decided he would rather stay in London. That was so hard to swallow The strength of the Premier League makes it difficult to climb out of a crisis
crisis, once you land in it.’’ Koeman admitted: “I was not doing anything different from what I have been doing in all the years before as a coach.
“During my last season as a manager of Feyenoord, we had a similar awkward period.
“I woke the team up with a different tactical formation, I changed to 5-3-2 and we won seven of our last eight games and qualified for the Champions League. The tactical change woke up the players.
“That is what you need in tough times, players staying close with the manager. You must not lose them and I always make sure I keep the squad together and keep the right connection with them.
“If I look at the intensity of our training sessions at Everton, I had no fear at all that I would lose my grip on the players.
“But, at some stage, you do need to get something back in return from them on the pitch, in the shape of a good victory.
“When that doesn’t happen, you know, as a manager, that your job will depend on the verdict of those above you.”