Koeman insists Everton is his long-term priority

A visibly testy Ronald Koeman was in no mood for platitudes, and did not suffer what he considered foolish questions gladly at today’s pre-match press conference. Everton travel to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday looking for a better performance to get their manager out of the doghouse after some flat and uninspiring showings to start the season.

Earlier this week Koeman was linked with the Holland job after the Dutch failed to qualify for the World Cup next year, marking the second straight international tournament they have crashed out of in the qualifying stages.

Speaking to the media today, Koeman said of the position -

“No, I'm not surprised that they have put my name in because they did the same some years ago, so it's not a surprise. But I'm Everton manager and that's the most important thing and nothing else.

“The future is not realistic now. We have other business to do at Everton. We need to win and we need to change our situation and our position in the table and that starts on Sunday.

“That's the priority for me for the long term.”

When pressed about the decline of the Dutch who have fallen far from the World Cup final they reached in 2010, he added -

“There's no extra pressure for me. The pressure is already always there in football, you put yourself under pressure to win every game. Everything that is mentioned in the press is outside my hands, I can't do anything about that.

“The most important focus is Sunday. After that we know we have Lyon at home but every Premier League is a tough one, it doesn't matter about the name of the opponent.

“Everybody expects different results, a different position in the table. In terms of confidence, we are finding it difficult. But we know we can turn it around as the players are working so hard that they deserve different results.

“You need a little bit of luck, you need to score the goal from the first chance that you will create. The fastest way to change that situation is to do your job every day and be a professional and work hard and have a feeling of belief together.”

Fans will argue that the Blues need more than luck as Koeman’s stubbornness in sticking with three number 10’s in the middle has been a key contributor to the Toffees poor transition game.

We await to see if he learned anything over the international break.