Phil Jagielka says the Everton squad are scared of new manager Ronald Koeman, but admits the Dutchman's strict approach is already reaping rewards.
The Toffees have enjoyed their best start to a season since 1978 and currently sit in second place, just two points behind leaders Manchester City, after winning four of their opening five matches.
Koeman, appointed as Roberto Martinez's successor in the summer, arrived on Merseyside after two successful seasons at Southampton and was tasked with reviving a squad that had regressed under the Spaniard.
The first-team squad were recalled early from their summer break and put through a gruelling pre-season with Koeman implementing tough standards on the training pitch and a hard line with players.
Jagielka, who has started all five of Everton's Premier League games this season, said: "There is a fear, definitely, just down to the fact that there have been people who have had good pre-seasons and they haven't started a game yet.
"He is not scared of making changes. James (McCarthy) was really unlucky at West Brom, playing out of position and he got brought off before half-time because we needed to do something different tactically.
"He is not afraid of making decisions before and after the game. It is like being back at school with a new headteacher who is trying to be a little bit stricter.
"You only have to look at the jobs he has done. That proves he has not done a bad job.
"At the moment it is going well. I wouldn't say we are playing amazing, but we are getting fantastic results and that breeds confidence."
Koeman's hard line approach with the first-team squad saw him substitute Ross Barkley at half-time during
Everton's 3-0 victory over Sunderland last Monday and openly criticise the midfielder's performance in his post-match press conference.
In the following days,
Koeman informed Barkley he needed to improve in all areas and the England international responded with a better performance in Saturday's
3-1 win over Middlesbrough.
"Ross took what happened on board and it was great for the manager to give him another opportunity to perform," Jagielka added.
"It may not have been Ross' most dazzling of games but he got around the pitch, put tackles in and that is what we want from him.
"He is not going to go and crawl into a hole or hide. He has had such a lot of expectation from a young age but he has learnt to deal with it."
