Perez is happy to make a point
Zlatan’s warning
many. I think the confidence of a few of the lads is pretty low, but the only way you can come out of that is to keep working hard and do the right things.
“Sometimes you need a bit of luck and things aren’t dropping for us. We have to keep working hard to turn it around.”
He points to the “final moment in the final third” as a prime reason for their struggles and the stats appear to back that up.
Koeman said after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat that he still has the support of the dressing room, but it is clear to anyone watching that the Toffees lack pace and penetration on their attacks.
They are too predictable right now and have been figured out by most opposition defences.
They have scored just four goals this season – the third-worst tally in the league – and, more worryingly, have had just 17 shots on target in seven games.
Going behind first in eight of their last nine matches has not helped either and they obviously miss the potency of Lukaku, who netted 25 times last season.
Koeman has bemoaned the fact they failed to sign a replacement striker in the summer, the Dutchman wanting a target man to give him a third option along with Sandro Ramirez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
If Koeman was given his marching orders in the next few weeks, his replacement would surely face similar problems until the transfer window opens in January.
But could someone else get the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Rooney and Davy Klaassen to help fill the void left by Lukaku by offering more goals from midfield?
So far former Barcelona defender Koeman has failed to do so as those players appear to be struggling to settle in and get used to his way of playing.
Ex-Clarets star Keane added: “Things can change quickly. We have had a bad start to the season but we are still not too far from where we want to be.
“If we put a good run together – three or four wins, which we are capable of doing – then I’m sure we will climb up the table.
“It’s only seven games in, there is a long way to go.
“It’s been a slow start but we just have to keep working hard and pick it up.”
They need to come good soon, for Koeman’s sake.
Next up is a trip to Brighton in 12 days’ time where another bad result could sorely test Moshiri’s relaxed attitude following his huge investment in the Toffees. ® AYOZE PEREZ has revealed the suffering Newcastle were forced to endure in their hard-fought 1-1 draw against Liverpool.
Rafa Benitez’s Premier League newcomers fed off scraps for long periods as the visitors hogged possession, but Perez is convinced the point Newcastle eked out proved they can live with the best.
“Most people were probably expecting us to lose on Sunday, but all of us gave everything to make sure we didn’t,” said the Spanish forward, 24.
“The team showed a good side to our character.
“We knew we were going to suffer in some minutes because they move the ball around so well.
“Sometimes we had to dig deep and wait for a chance to counter-attack.”
Newcastle are now ninth on 10 points and Perez added: “I think that’s a good number.
“Had we been offered this at the start of the season, we would have taken it.”
Newcastle insist that despite the presence of Amanda Staveley at the game there have no buyout talks between owner Mike Ashley and the 44-year-old businesswoman.
They stress Staveley, who runs a £24bn private equity fund and was involved in Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City in 2008, was there in an unofficial capacity. ®