Exactly this.
I reckon even Mourinho would struggle to get he current squad into the top 4. So it has to be a bloke who is good at spending cash and to be fair Koeman seems ok to good at that. Doesn't buy too many duds.
- Good record in market (check)
- Likes to play attractive football but has defensive nous (check)
Question for those like
@BlueToff who are relatively upbeat about the possibility of Koeman, some questions for you:
1. What does Koeman bring to Everton that we need?
2. Do you think he'll retain those aspects of Martinez that we enjoyed? i.e. will there be some continuity?
3. Do you think he'll be able to bring some players with him and, if so, who would we benefit from?
1. Not meaning to be purposely vague, but he brings a balance. Our main critique of Bobby was his inability to learn from his mistakes. Koeman has shown in the past two seasons he is willing to adapt his style to win matches and, if needs be, will change a system completely. A perfect example is, with Forster out in the first half of the year, Sotton were looking fragile at the back. So he went to a back three to compensate. Forster came back a few games later and they kept like 8 clean sheets in 10 or something ridiculous like that. However, teams started to figure out a way to play against it so he then switched back to a back four and, after a shaky run of three or four games, they started to climb back up the table. For me, that's the sign of a good manager, and also lets not forget as a player he played at the very, very highest level, and was one of the best players in that Barca side - e.g. Big game experience.
2. I think so. I think De Boer would, but for me the Prem experience has changed Koeman in that he now knows you have to be more flexible. De Boer is stubborn, to a point where it is his major flaw, a bit like Bobby. Koeman also demands his sides to be first and foremost fit, and then organised. The attacking play is equally as focused, but it all has to start from the ground up. It's not the Moyes style of being overly cautious, or RM's style of either sitting on the edge of our 18 yard box or the edge of the opposition's 18-yard box, but it's a bit of both. They can thump City 4-2 one week, then the next they can go to (an albeit downcast Spurs but a side that still had something to play for and have battered better teams than Sotton this season) and do a job on them, playing nice stuff while been solid defensively (they conceded due to an error by Forster and that is it).
3. Yes, and i think he's a manager players respect automatically. Whether it would be enough to keep Lukaku, or maybe even Stones, we would have to see, but I think what this squad needs after Martinez's stubborness is a manager willing to adapt his game and who has done so in the past. De Boer, to me, doesn't seem that man - though if he came I would support him wholly. Koeman just seems the perfect fit for me. And yes, I think there's a chance he could attract some players, though it depends on whether or not Southampton get Europe.
