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Ronald Koeman
Ronald Koeman has seen Everton pick up just seven points from their first seven Premier League matches. Photograph: Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images
Ronald Koeman has seen Everton pick up just seven points from their first seven Premier League matches. Photograph: Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images

Everton’s Farhad Moshiri: Ronald Koeman has my total support

This article is more than 6 years old
Manager given vote of confidence after Sunday’s home defeat by Burnley
Majority shareholder Moshiri: ‘We have great fans and they deserve better’

Everton’s major shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, has said the club’s fans “deserve better” than this season’s dreadful run of form but insisted Ronald Koeman retains his total support.

The Everton manager has attracted fierce criticism following ineffective performances and poor results. The home defeat by Burnley on Sunday was their fifth in eight matches in all competitions and left a club that spent almost £140m in the summer languishing two points above the teams in the relegation zone.

Koeman has argued it is wrong to question his future because his players continue to show commitment, while dismissing the theory that substantial investment in seven additions to the first team should have brought improvement.

In a statement released to the Sky Sports presenter Jim White, Moshiri cited a demanding fixture list and European exertions as factors in Everton’s meagre return. He insisted any pressure on Koeman is not coming from the boardroom.

“We are in a bad moment,” Moshiri said, “but we have played the four title contenders, three away. Today was the only unexpected loss. The four pre-qualifying Uefa games and two group games on Thursdays haven’t helped. There is mental and physical fatigue and seven injuries. These are early days and Koeman has my total support. We have great fans and they deserve better. We know the honest and objective expectations of our supporters and will not let them down.”

The failure to replace Romelu Lukaku in the summer has cost Everton, who have scored only four Premier League goals – three fewer than the Belgium striker has scored for Manchester United.

However, Koeman’s team selection has also contributed to a woeful start with the manager struggling to find a solution to the lack of pace, threat and balance in the ranks. He dropped Wayne Rooney to the bench for the first time in the Premier League this season against Burnley as he gave Oumar Niasse, who he told to leave the club last summer, his first start. It was only after Rooney’s introduction that Everton exerted pressure on Sean Dyche’s well-organised and sixth-placed team.

Koeman has claimed it was unrealistic to expect Everton to challenge the top four, despite the biggest spending spree in the club’s history. His team are also struggling in the Europa League having been comprehensively beaten away at Atalanta and drawing at home last week against a 10‑man Apollon Limassol, the lowest ranked team in the group.

Koeman has cited a lack of confidence as a key concern and Michael Keane, the £30m summer signing from Burnley, admits he has been undermined by recent results. “Maybe it’s down to confidence,” the defender said.

“There are loads of great players here but you get confidence from winning games. We had a bad week a few weeks ago. I think the confidence of a few of the lads is pretty low but the only way you can come out of that is to keep working hard and do the right things. I feel like we did that [against Burnley]. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and things aren’t dropping for us. We have to keep working hard to turn it around.”

Everton travel to Brighton after the international break and then face another demanding sequence of games that could intensify the pressure on Koeman. They host Lyon in the Europa League and Arsenal in the Premier League before travelling to Chelsea for a Carabao Cup tie and then Leicester City.

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