The Best Laid Plans?

After the terrible start to the season, the finger is being pointed squarely at Ronald Koeman. But is this fair? We examine the structure at Goodison and try to work out what the plan was and why it is failing.

Structure

Back in the summer of 2016, Everton made 2 key appointments to move away from the Martinez era. In doing so, the structure of the club which had remained the same since Theo Kelly in 1939. After Koeman was appointed as manager, Steve Walsh was brought in as Everton’s first director of football.

Koeman has often mentioned his desire to stay away from transfer negotiations.  “I have always kept well away from transfer negotiations and money. As a coach I will point out the player I want and as soon as the money side comes up with the player, I will leave the room.” He’s happy to identify players and even speak to them to help seal the deal but does not ‘sign players.’ “We speak together about what the team needs and that is the job of Steve Walsh.”

Koeman has never managed a club for longer than 3 years and has freely admitted that he is only at Everton for the short term. “That’s why I like Steve Walsh’s function in the club. He is for the long term and sometimes he is looking for young players who are not first-team players” Koeman told the Mirror.

Koeman is focussed on winning now. Walsh is focussed on the future. So how does that explain the summer recruitment policy?

Arrivals

Evertonians were excited about this summer’s new arrivals. An Ajax captain. A former world class striker. A free kick specialist. A future England centre half and goalkeeper. All of these plus the extensive recruitment for the under 21s and the signing of Onyekuru showed a club on the move. The manager was not satisfied and identified striker and defensive cover as needs before the start of the season. They were never addressed. A summer that seemed to be going to plan was suddenly derailed.

Forward Planning

A crowd favourite striker departed this summer in Arouna Kone but it is the loss of Romelu Lukaku which has had the largest impact on the toffees. Despite the peace and quiet during the international break, Lukaku’s goals have been sorely missed. Despite not being a traditional number 9, the Belgian’s pace and physical presence caused the opposition problems. Everton haven’t replaced either the goals or the physical attributes of the Belgian self-publicist.

Time and again Koeman mentioned the importance of a striker. Giroud of Arsenal was strongly linked and admitted that he had been close to joining. Would he have made a difference? He is certainly strong and a great penalty box player. Defences have sat deep against us giving no defence behind. Pace wouldn’t make a difference. But strength and movement would. And whilst Calvert Lewin has shown glimpses, the lack of a replacement has cost us.

The biggest impact on Everton actually took place in Europe and involved another forward. Neymar’s transfer to PSG greatly inflated the rest of the summers transfer fees. Some have even argued that Everton would have received more than the 90 million they received for Lukaku if they had held on a month. Neymar’s transfer may have meant that the asking prices of Everton’s plan B’s were too much, even for Farhad Moshiri’s resources. It may be that Everton regret keeping their powder dry if they are out of the cup competitions by February.

Back Problems

When Koeman came to Everton, he came with a reputation for defensive solidity. We conceded only 44 goals last season, 6^th best in the league. This season we have conceded 12 already, despite the arrival of England international Michael Keane. Everton’s horror fixture list has undoubtedly contributed as have the injuries to Jagielka and Keane in the first few weeks.

Jagielka and Ashley Williams are both the wrong side of 30 and with Funes Mori out for ages, left sided defensive cover was needed. Like a striker, it never arrived. Worryingly, rather than acquire another young centre half like Keane, Mason Holgate was seen to be the cover at centre half. Holgate is a talent but has played right back for most of last season. With Williams form falling off a cliff, Everton look short at the back.

Wide of the Mark?

Another issue is the lack of natural width. Rooney, Klaassen and Sigurdsson are all comfortable in the middle. Vlasic is young and untested. Lookman is out of favour and possibly homesick. Mirallas has spat the dummy out and is out of favour. All of this, combined with defences sitting deep means that our play is laboured outside the area and reliant on full backs. Our plan of attack is fairly obvious.

We haven’t brought an experienced wide man into the squad which makes you wonder if Koeman does not value width. Deulofeu was quickly bombed out of the side last season. Lookman played for a short while but was dropped and very rarely seen. Aaron Lennon is out of the squad also. Yannick Bolasie is still some way off full fitness. Without pace and width or a target man, there is no penetration against defences who sit deep.

We have played 505 long balls this season, the 4^th highest in the Premier League. Odd for a side without a natural target man. We are 11^th in the table in terms of crosses and 9^th in passing. We are also 12^th in shots in the premier league this season. For us to improve, we will drastically need to improve the speed and quality of our approach play, passing and movement. Time will tell as to whether Koeman can turn it around.

A Poor Plan or Bad Luck?

So how much of this is a failure of the system, how much is poor planning and how much is down to external factors? Certainly, the fixture list didn’t help but the transfer policy of the summer seemed disjointed. Whilst Pickford and Keane can be mainstays of the future, the jury is out on the rest of the signings. It seems that they were bought without real consideration of where they would play. This has left the side looking disjointed and disorganised.

Without knowing who is responsible for the transfers it is hard to see where the blame lies, but blame doesn’t help at the moment. This is a huge test of Ronald Koeman’s managerial skills. He has to pick up the players confidence, find his best team and organise them to win games. This next stretch is crucial. He had a bad spell last year which ended against Arsenal at home with a 2-1 win. Let’s hope the plan has come together before the gunners arrive at Goodison next week.

What do you think have been the defining factors for our poor start to the season? Can you figure out Everton’s plan? Let us know in the comment section below.