Koeman laments loss of Lukaku
THREE successive defeats has turned up the heat on Everton manager Ronald Koeman, but you won’t find the Dutchman panicking.
It is eight goals conceded, none scored and barely a shot in anger in those three matches, which have punctured some of the pre-season optimism.
Things won’t get any easier this afternoon with a trip to Manchester United, after their 3-0 loss at Atalanta in the Europa League in midweek.
But Koeman has been around the top level of football for more than 30 years and knows that pressure comes with the job.
“I understand that the Premier League is unforgiving,” he acknowledges. “I don’t have any problems with that.
“I am realistic in life and with being a manager. If I don’t win with the expectations here and results like we have had, every manager has that problem. “If you don’t like it, go on holiday! “This is part of football. Of course, it’s easier to be a manager when everything goes well. You don’t have any problems and everybody is accepting decisions.
“We have had a bad run of results. It is a tough start to the season and I was not expecting six points more than we have now.
“But after Manchester United we have four fixtures at home – Bournemouth and Burnley in the league, Sunderland in the Carabao Cup and Apollon Limassol in the Europa League.
“It’s really important we come through that period with a lot of wins.”
Koeman spent nearly £150 million on new players in the summer, who are taking a bit of time to gel.
But it’s the loss of striker Romelu Lukaku which is most keenly felt. The Belgian contributed 25 Premier League goals last season before his £75-million switch to United.
“It is a big miss that we don’t have Lukaku anymore but everybody knows that,” Koeman says. “We knew last season that maybe we would lose him.
“It is always difficult to replace a player like him in the physical guy that he is and the number of goals that he scored.
“We need to change some things and that is what we have tried to do to get more goals from other players.”