Not just winning, but winning with a swagger mikey
he is doing things step by step and building on things.
His first challenge was to get the team playing the way he wants which is a lot more of a pressing game than the team were used to. fitness was an initial barrier to this which he has now overcome.
The second challenge was to get the team harder to beat and, initially, he had to sacrifice style to implement this.
The third challenge was to find out which of his inherited squad complimented the way he wants his team to play. He has weaned those he doesn't want here and I would say this has probably been the most successful part of his tenure to date.
The fourth challenge is to integrate new players of the right quality who will compliment the system he wants to play. This has been a qualified success so far and will probably take at least 2 more windows if we're being realistic. I would say that this is probably the area hat most fans have been disappointed with so far.
The fifth challenge was to get the most out of our most talented players. He's done this with Lukaku and has also turned Barkley's season around. Coleman has also had a much better season up until his injury. Deulefeu has been a disappointment though as there is most definitely a top player in there somewhere.
The sixth challenge was integrating our emerging youth into the first team. took his time but I think he's proved that he is prepared to give youth a chance.
The seventh challenge was to get us playing attractive winning football. He's certainly done that at home and for the matchgoers this has been an unqualified success. Goodison is now a fortress once more and there's no doubt the home support has helped this. The atmosphere has been much better this season. He now needs to transpose this to our away games too.
Koeman took a while to get used to Everton. To begin with he didn't understand the club or the fans and made some comments, especially concerning Lukaku, that reflects this. However I do believe he has learnt from this and gets us now. He now understands that we are, indeed, a sleeping giant and that the fans expectations are far higher than even his own.
Overall, he's done well in his first season in charge. The summer transfer window is hugely important to how much we improve next season. I think even without squad improvement we are in a better position to compete with the teams above us. But 2/3 key signings to the starting XI, and a further 2/3 better squad players will make the difference.