Why? He won a trophy and they finished with a respectable league position which was likely their aim, with a squad with a budget about 60% of our own. So by all accounts he achieved more than the club expected of him. Let’s not forget it was Laudrup’s first season in the league. The way he changed the playing style for certain games, hints that he’s the kind of manager that studies the opposition and then works out how to set up his side. Against us at home he played an expansive game and Mirallas blitzed them. At Goodison he recognised the way Everton play and he shut up shop, knew we wouldn’t be able to break them down and he hit us on the break. They had the best chance of that game to be fair. You don’t have to have all of the ball to win a football match.
He beat Arsenal and Chelsea away from home, and they weren’t lucky wins either. Some of the best football of last season was played by Swansea. For Swansea their season finished when they won that trophy. Perhaps there are many younger people on these boards who have never really witnessed the club winning a trophy, but it’s a pretty big thing for everyone involved trust me. Once they’d won that, and were pretty much assured they couldn’t much higher or much lower in the league, they really just played out the remaining games without extending themselves too much. It was still a learning curve for him don’t forget and he’ll likely have still learned many lessons from those games. I think Laudrup showed more tactical intelligence last season than David Moyes has in 11 years at Everton.
Why do people always want longevity? Moyes was here 11 years and we didn’t win a thing. Just because Ferguson was at United for so long and won so many trophies doesn’t mean that strategy will work for everyone. Look at Chelsea, they chop and change their managers constantly and they’ve won every trophy there is to win in that time. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal for about 17 years and they haven’t won a thing for the last 7. Relationships don’t always get better with time. While some may get more used to certain things, others may start to get frustrated with the same voice/same message. Sometimes change is good. Managers and their chums in the media keep telling us that stability is the right way, because it ensures they stay in jobs.
If Everton were to get Laudrup, and he won us a trophy, maintained or improved upon the league positions and then decided to jump ship in 2 years to go to Real Madrid, would you think it had been a waste of time appointing him in the first place?
