Everton News: Ronald Koeman's courage in a crisis inspires Tom Davies

THE FOOTBALL education for England’s best young players, like Under-21 star midfielder Tom Davies, is not just about tactics, technique and fighting for a place in the senior team.

00:00, Sun, Oct 15, 2017 | UPDATED: 00:18, Sun, Oct 15, 2017

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Everton star Tom Davies has been impressive at Goodison Park

It’s also about dealing with trouble and strife when it strikes a club, as it always will from time to time. How do they respond in a crisis?

Davies could do worse than look at the strength of purpose shown by his Everton manager Ronald Koeman amid the club’s early-season struggles after a summer of big spending on new players.

The Dutch manager stands tall, takes the criticism on broad shoulders and trusts that the record of three superb previous seasons in the

Premier League will see him and the team through their current torment.

Koeman has finished seventh, sixth and seventh with Southampton and Everton in the last three years, and knows that a tough starting schedule this season – they have played both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Spurs – is a major factor in their lowly 17th place in the table.

“I think the questions should be answered halfway through the season,” said the Everton manager, “because we’ve already played four title contenders, three away from home.”

Common sense would say he is correct but pressure will increase rapidly without an upturn in results, starting today away to Brighton.

I think the questions should be answered halfway through the season
Everton boss Ronald Koeman

What Koeman won’t change is his philosophy of playing and his commitment to a generation of emerging talent, such as Davies and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Davies scored the winner for England U21s at Andorra on Tuesday and said: “The manager at Everton demands high standards and for me that’s been good because he has brought a lot out of me.

“He’s tough but he’s been great for me – given me a chance and taught me a lot about the game. We haven’t been doing the best lately but in

training it’s always high tempo and your touch has got to be perfect.

“You know what you’re getting from him and that’s good for all of us.”

Davies is a lifelong Everton fan and he feels the pain of the supporters at Goodison with a particular intensity.

“It hurts more because you have grown up watching them and you know how it feels when the team is losing,” said the young midfielder.

Gylfi Sigurdsson scores for Iceland in World Cup qualifier

“We don’t go out there as players to perform badly but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Even if we’re not playing well, we are still trying

to do the right things and show people we haven’t given up.

“It’s hard when confidence is low but it’s down to the individual to forget about the last game and focus on the next.”

Everton’s last match before the international break was a 1-0 home loss to Burnley and perhaps the fortnight off will have helped them, with Davies doing well for the U21s and new signing Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring against Kosovo to take Iceland to the World Cup Finals.

“We are working on getting it all together,” added Davies. “We’ve had a lot of new signings and they are all quality.

“We just need them to gel and we’re working on it. It’s going well in training and now we need to start putting it into the games.

“Gylfi brings goals to the team and his set plays are so dangerous. My game is all about high energy and getting round the pitch.

“A team is a mix of many things and it’s just a matter of getting us all to fit together, really. Then you will see our quality.”