Ronald Koeman is under increasing pressure at Everton. The club were handed a very difficult start to the Premier League, and early criticism over results was largely unfair.
At the same time, the attention given to Everton’s summer spend was also somewhat skewed. With the club losing Romelu Lukaku the spend was always going to be big, and yet it still wasn’t big enough to replace the Belgian, if ever the need for reference to net spend was justified, it was now.
Koeman’s bigger problem is that he also hasn’t won the easier matches, and is losing Everton fans. There’s a frustration that this season isn’t going to come close to expectations, even if some expectations were wholly unrealistic.
Finishing 7th again would have been around par, but that’s looking increasingly difficult.
Koeman writes a regular column for De Telegraaf, and this week has answered some of his criticism.
‘I also accept that everyone is entitled to his opinion and as a coach I don’t run away from criticism. We know within Everton that we currently play under our level and that the 
results should be better. The moment I made the move from Southampton to a club with such ambitions, I knew I could be in a difficult situation if investments were not accompanied by results.
‘I’m pretty calm with it. I do everything with the rest of the staff and we work even harder to get those results fast. I have also said in England that I’m exactly the same coach as in the past few years when it went well. I make sure that the feeling with the group stays good and I follow the line we used.’
Ronald Koeman will know he can say what he likes, but results are the only real answer to Everton’s current problems.
