Ronald Koeman still believes he's the right man for Everton but accept Arsenal defeat leaves him in danger of the sack

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Plagued by calls for him to be sacked by home supporters inside Goodison Park, Ronald Koeman vowed to continue as Everton manager following a crushing 5-2 defeat by Arsenal.

The result means Everton fall into the Premier League’s relegation zone, nine games into a season where record transfer spending was supposed to propel the club closer to the Champions League places.

Koeman recognises he is on the brink of being sacked. If results do not improve in the next two weeks, it is difficult to see him lasting beyond the international break.

Everton face Chelsea in the League Cup at Goodison Park on Wednesday before trips to Leicester and Lyon. Watford then come to Merseyside on November 5.

“If you start to think negative then maybe there is no solution. I am not like that,” Koeman said. “The rumours in the newspapers is normal. The team is underperforming. The team is in a difficult situation. Mentally our confidence is struggling. That’s what we need to change. Personally, I think I can still make the change but everyone knows how it can change in football.”

Koeman speaks to members of Everton’s board after every game and Sunday night would be no different. He was asked whether he could identify positives from the loss to Arsenal but he decided not to, replying curtly: “I don’t talk about positives because the final result is a 5-2 defeat at home. Write what you’d like to write.”

Arsenal had 28 shots on Everton’s goal and scored five. It had been Arsène Wenger’s 68th birthday, and on an afternoon where he had to field questions about the future of Mesut Özil’s future with the German linked heavily to a summer move to Manchester United, he did not hide his satisfaction with the midfielder’s performance.

“He was superb, agile, quick, intelligent; always at the service of the team. He is an exceptional player,” Wenger said.