Koeman’s crisis meeting with senior Everton stars

RONALD KOEMAN held a crisis meeting with Everton’s players to demand an explanation for why they have allowed their standards to drop. Everton endured a difficult trip home from Italy after being blitzed 3-0 by Atalanta, with their flight being delayed by a couple of hours. It meant they did not get back to Merseyside until the early hours of yesterday morning. Koeman waited until lunchtime to address the many shortcomings that were obvious in Everton’s opening Europa League game and did not hold back with his views before he left their Finch Farm training base just after 2.30pm. Koeman, whose side face Manchester United tomorrow aiming to end a run of five games in all competitions without a win, made a point of speaking to the senior members of Everton’s group and has challenged them to take on more responsibility. The manner in which Everton folded against Atalanta, coming just five days after Tottenham had trampled all over them, has put Koeman in the spotlight and he said: ‘Michael Keane is maybe, on the ball, normally our best centre back. ‘Maybe now he has doubts in his football. If you have doubts defending, you make a step back. That’s all about confidence. ‘You step back if you are afraid. One of the problems is that if we get a goal against us we lose a lot of aggression, lose a lot of defensive organisation. ‘I can name more players who are not performing and are struggling. That makes the team weak at this time. ‘We need personalities who talk and criticise to make the team better and get a better understanding. We need them to show everybody that we will fight for a better period.’