Ronald Koeman discussion

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Blue Cheese said:
On the whole as a season, yes a par, probably a birdie going off last 2 seasons but the actual transformation we have undergone has been clearly visible. Onwards and upwards, next season holds promise...BUT...We say that most years, we fail to take into account our rivals strengthening and as fans it bites us up the preverbial.
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Indeed. The most improved teams this season, probably, are us and Chelsea.

That last jump into the elite they have made seen simple. Probably understandable, based on their recent history. The narrative next season for us to get there, assuming the squad is significantly improved, will need a fall from grace of one of them. Maybe 2.

Arse? Strong contenders to fall down.

City, United, Chelsea? Not a chance imo, but of the 3, Jose having a head fit is most likely I guess.

Spurs? Jury will be out till the opening fixture re if Poch is tempted away. Cant see any significant player going from them. Seem strong in that dept.

RS? Hope so obvs. Realistic? You never know with them.

Tough gig elite football.
 

Keeps taking Gana off or even not playing him, wonder if he's fatigued? He (gana)kept us afloat before Christmas, we were that bad.
 
Blue Cheese said:
Keeps taking Gana off or even not playing him, wonder if he's fatigued? He (gana)kept us afloat before Christmas, we were that bad.
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He took him off vs Burnley because we didn't need him and Morgan at the same time. Whereas between taking him or Morgan off we need the control and better offensive/tempo dictating play of Morgan > Gana.
 
Blue Cheese said:
On the whole as a season, yes a par, probably a birdie going off last 2 seasons but the actual transformation we have undergone has been clearly visible. Onwards and upwards, next season holds promise...BUT...We say that most years, we fail to take into account our rivals strengthening and as fans it bites us up the preverbial.
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i'd say it's still par really, if we finish 6th i'll give him just about a birdie. i think most managers worth their salt would have improved us on last season, even if we didn't buy anyone, but after the signings we made, i didn't think anything lower than 7th was possible, unless leicester had another crazy season. But the recent smashing of all teams left right and centre at goodison has made it much more positive, especially know we seem to be finishing strong going into the backend of the season. But we probably have the 6th best squad in the league and are 7th mainly because the RS have massively overachieved in their europe-less season. I expect us to improve on 7th next season, but will reserve predictions until i see who we buy and who they buy on what would be par.
 

If Lukaku is indeed set to depart in the summer I would imagine we will strive to set up like Atletico Madrid.

Their team is set up to firstly remain compact yet offer a threat from all areas of the pitch. Of course Griezman is a vital component but his forward play is nothing like the way we currently attack.

Losing Rom would be very disappointing but I would expect our approach to change drastically should this occur. Will be a big test for Koeman and indeed Walsh but it is one I expect them to rise to. Previously to this season we have had big problems in the midfield in regards to controlling games. In less than a season we have completely transformed that area of the team.

Big summer ahead for all.
 
His first job was to consolidate after two years of free fall. Begin to overhaul the squad, get them fit again and make the defence PL standard.

That he has done that, and got us into Europe in his first season, is an excellent start. It might be difficult to remember just how bad it was this time last year, but the turnaround in 12 months has been stark.

It's only the first step though, and he knows that. He and the club have put an excellent platform in place to kick on, but that will likely be harder than the consolidation and rise of this season. But for everything he has done so far, Koeman gets lots of ticks.
 
a bell maul said:
Sold 47mio (Stones [ex Barnsley's 20%], Oviedo and Gibson)
Bought 80mio ( (Stek 1, Geuye 7.5 Williams 12, Bolasie 25, Valencia 1.5 [loan fee],Lookman 10,schneiderlin 23)

Nett spend 33mio.
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More "I dont like the truth, who cares about facts". Schneiderlin was 20, Lookman was 7.5, etc etc. Using inflated made up fee numbers, that you COULD have just looked up in 5 seconds doesnt help.

Plus, Gibson 2, Cleverly 7.8 mill, total sold roughly 57. Total spent roughly 74. Counting Valencies loan fee is absurd as long as you arent counting those we loaned out, like Del.
 
PeregrineT said:
More "I dont like the truth, who cares about facts". Schneiderlin was 20, Lookman was 7.5, etc etc. Using inflated made up fee numbers, that you COULD have just looked up in 5 seconds doesnt help.

Plus, Gibson 2, Cleverly 7.8 mill, total sold roughly 57. Total spent roughly 74. Counting Valencies loan fee is absurd as long as you arent counting those we loaned out, like Del.
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Peregrine Took...you are a nuisance of a hobbit!! :p

Seriously though, you may not be the sharpest Took in the Shire, but I like your trenchant passion. ;)
 

TheDelBoy said:
Fair assessment, I don't hold everton too the standards Martinez set in latter years. He's got us solid at home when there's no pressure, when it is a test we fail with backs to wall away from home.

We will sign better players under Koeman than moyes, and he is different in many ways but so far he's got us 7th in same position Moyes did and is getting an easy ride along with Walsh and Moshiri because fans can get few 'boss aways in europa la'


Meanwhile mid table and out of both cups.
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The league was nowhere near as competitive when moyes was around imo.
 
KevMirallas said:
His first job was to consolidate after two years of free fall. Begin to overhaul the squad, get them fit again and make the defence PL standard.

That he has done that, and got us into Europe in his first season, is an excellent start. It might be difficult to remember just how bad it was this time last year, but the turnaround in 12 months has been stark.

It's only the first step though, and he knows that. He and the club have put an excellent platform in place to kick on, but that will likely be harder than the consolidation and rise of this season. But for everything he has done so far, Koeman gets lots of ticks.
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I generally agree. My expectation at the beginning of the season was that 7th would be a decent finish. It would reverse the previous couple of years of free fall and give us something to build from - as there are/were 6 teams who on paper looked stronger than us.

It's basically played out more or less exactly that way. I was concerned at the blip we had for about two and a half months from mid-September to the end of November and our early exit in the cups has been annoying, but other than that we've done pretty well. The football has got progressively better as the season has gone on, and other than that horrible spell I mentioned above, the only teams to beat us this season have been Spurs and Liverpool.

Defensively we've improved, we've added some good players, given a lot of time on the pitch to young players and we've begun to ruthlessly clear the decks of a lot of players who aren't deemed up to the standard required.

Koeman stated that his target for this season would be European qualification. Barring some sort of huge collapse, he has achieved that. I'm perfectly satisfied (though I admit I was a bit worried in November). We've put a distance between us and the 13 clubs below us, the target now is to catch those in the six places above that, which will take some doing but for the first time in a generation we appear to have the resources to at least try and do that.
 
So if we're in the same respectable position next season all the ones who were on his case, and there were a hell of a lot on this forum, until Christmas who have ended up looking a bit silly this season are gonna resurface pronto and start demanding we've got to break into the top six or sack him as he's failing. Ok sound that Pfft but can I ask who you'd expect to drop out of the top six at our expense before your all calling for his head? Myself I think it's gonna be a hard slog to knock any of them off their perch after just over 12 months in charge so If we don't but have given it a good go that'll do me and we'll move onto the next season and give it another go. I might even be in the minority but I certainly won't be demanding a top six finish or his head if we don't next season. I'm not happy with mediocrity but I also understand whinging every week on an internet forum about what I should be demanding isn't going to change that. He's done a pretty solid job for me this season and whilst it wasn't quite as exciting nor will we finish as high placed (probably) or with as many points as Martinez's first season in charge it leaves me with more hope that we can build on these solid foundations instead of what was a house of cards.
 

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