Ronald Koeman believes he still retains the confidence of the Everton board as he tries to turn round a disappointing start to the season, but admits he needs a win at home in the Europa League against Lyon.
Everton have yet to win in Group E, and were beaten in their last home league outing, against Burnley, yet the manager was relaxed enough to make a joke about his position on hearing Craig Shakespeare’s observation that any manager is only four poor results from a crisis. “Maybe I am in the crisis already,” he said, before revealing that the majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, and the chairman, Bill Kenwright, had offered encouragement when visiting the training ground last week.
“They came to see our new building and of course they had a good lunch and yes, they spoke about football,” the Everton manager said. “There was not really a message but the feeling is that they are behind the manager and that is a nice thing, but everybody knows that in football it is all about results. For now I have full support from the board but we all know our results need to improve. We need a win to put us back into contention in the European group but we also need a win to boost our confidence.
“If we had scored the last two big chances we had at Brighton then the picture is changed for this game. We always knew we had a tough start to the season; when we play Arsenal on Sunday it will be the fifth game from nine against teams who finished in the top five of the Premier League last season,” said Koeman – although he included in that the 4-0 defeat to Manchester United, who actually came sixth. “A good result will hopefully give the players a lift ahead of the Arsenal game and also the slightly easier league fixtures that follow. That is what we need to do.”
Koeman could find his side up against Memphis Depay when Lyon visit Merseyside, after trying and failing to sign the winger from Manchester United last season. “I like the player, he is always dangerous even when not at his best level, but we couldn’t reach agreement with United,” Koeman said. “He didn’t play a lot for United but I think he is a talent for the future for the Dutch national team.”
Everton have three important games in three different competitions over the course of the next seven days, with a visit to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup to follow Arsenal on Sunday, so it is hardly surprising to see Koeman targeting a win against Lyon. Not only does it look the most winnable of the three games, it could be the key to avoiding another morale-sapping run of results. Michael Keane, the centre-half signed from Burnley for £25m over summer, thought Everton put in an improved performance to gain a draw at Brighton in the last match but disagreed it is becoming harder to lift the atmosphere at home.
“I wouldn’t say it’s become difficult playing at home, we have a lot of experience in our team and we know what to expect if things are not going well,” Keane said. “The fans at Everton have high expectations, and so they should, and if we are not playing free-flowing football they have a right to get on our case. We are desperate to get it right, we know we need to get back to keeping clean sheets again because if the other team scores first it always gives them a lift.
“I thought we controlled most of the game at Brighton and if we can do that against Lyon we have a much better chance. So far this season we haven’t put enough teams to the sword at Goodison, and that is what the fans deserve to see.”
Everton (possible): Pickford; Holgate, Keane, Williams, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Klaassen; Sigurdsson, Rooney, Calvert-Lewin.
Lyon (possible): Lopes; Tete, Diakhaby, Yanga-Mbiwa, Mboumbouni; Tousart, Ndombele; Traoré, Fekir, Depay; Dzabana.