UK Edition
Phil Jagielka calls for Everton players to look in the mirror as they prepare for reunion with Romelu Lukaku
Everton are heading for a reunion with Romelu Lukaku tomorrow afternoon, 48 hours after Ronald Koeman held crisis talks with his senior players.
Lukaku will face his former club for the first time with Koeman battling to kick-start Everton’s season and prove his £130m summer revolution remains on course, following a chastening fortnight.
Defeats against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur dampened the early enthusiasm but the insipid 3-0 loss against Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday has left Koeman under growing scrutiny.
Despite the arrival of nine senior signings, Everton still appear one-paced, disjointed, painfully short in attack and have conceded eight goals without scoring in those three defeats.
Senior Everton officials were visibly shell-shocked as they filtered out of the Mapei Stadium and while the board remain one of the most patient in the Premier League, Koeman is under pressure to deliver after such a hefty outlay on players.
Phil Jagielka, the Everton captain, was one of the players hauled in for Friday’s clear-the-air summit and is demanding a reaction ahead of their showdown with Manchester United and Lukaku, who left Goodison Park in a £75m deal.
“If we play against United like we have been doing lately it won't take too much of a standard of player to out-perform us. First and foremost we need to look in the mirror and then pull our finger out,” he said.
“There's no point me talking about it and trying to give a rallying cry. We've got a tough game on Sunday at United, another cup competition on Wednesday against Sunderland and a home game coming up in the Premier League so in these games we've got to make sure the passion and the performance is there.
“It’s been a horrific scheduling to the season for us. But we have to make sure we put things right with our reaction.”
Koeman had expected a response in northern Italy after their home defeat to Spurs last Saturday, but it was a nightmarish experience as Everton made a poor start to their Group E campaign.
Atalanta scored three goals in a one-sided first half and Koeman admitted the thrashing was a “wake-up call” to his expensively assembled squad.
Jagielka and his team-mates were jeered by the Everton supporters as they went to applaud them at the final whistle and the former England defender had no complaints.
When asked if he could understand the hostile reception, he replied: “Yes, massively. Even coming out after half-time I think I'd have done the same.
“It's expensive and something we've all been looking forward to for a while so I can more than understand the frustration.
“I wouldn't expect too many of them to have stood up and clapped so now it's up to us as players and a squad to turn it around. The only way we can do that is on the pitch.
“I don't know what words to use about the performance - disappointed, embarrassed. We can lose any game but the first-half performance against Atalanta was just unacceptable.
“The game's done now and there's not much we can do about that. We can talk about how bad everything is or get back to the training ground, get our recovery and we'd better put in a good performance on Sunday.”