After the solid and thoroughly unspectacular lengthy reign of David Moyes (which had its own charm and achievements) the who’s who over at Goodison Park decided to go with the articulate and perennially underachieving Spaniard Roberto Martinez. The Spaniard, who is known for his attractive style of football going forward, could never really build a team and employ a setup without the defensive loopholes that yielded entertainment for the neutrals but not so much for the club’s supporters. Having admitted the otherwise low-profile advocate of tiki-taka did not work out for them, Everton with new Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri at the helm swiftly moved to announce Ronald Koeman as the man to take them to new heights.
With many of their star players misfiring last season, Everton looked toothless all over the pitch. Ronald Koeman will look to address these issues and look to re-invigorate these stars at the club.
On that note, three players who will have to pull up their socks for Everton to click again (irrespective of new signings) are.
ROMELU LUKAKU
The big Belgian is a much hyped and celebrated figure at the club. Touted as the ’next’ Drogba, he was signed from Chelsea for a club-record fee of £28m. Though his 61 goals and 22 assists in 127 games signify his time has been an undisputed success, Everton fans expect much more from him. Lukaku possesses frightening natural ability and is capable of unsettling any defence. But he has been inconsistent throughout the last campaign. It is believed the pressure on him to single-handedly deliver, affects his performance to an extent. And Koeman will have to speak with the Belgian and figure out a way to extract his full potential.
ROSS BARKLEY
Described as the next big thing in English football since time immemorial, this England international has failed to live upto the expectations. But to his credit, every time he is written off, Barkley comes up with a world-class performance which restores the fan’s belief that he will come good.
He possesses physicality; he has a natural ability to dribble past multiple players; he can shrug off defenders with ease; he is strong defensively as well. But his big let-down is his inconsistency, which has been a frustrating factor for a long period of time now. Fans will be hoping Ronald Koeman can resurrect this fading prodigy’s career and help him fulfil his potential because Ross Barkley in full flight is capable of destroying any defence in the Premier League.
GERARD DEULOFEU
This Spanish winger came up the ranks at Barcelona but could not make the grade in the first team. Having enjoyed a couple of loan spells at Everton and Sevilla, he made a permanent move to Goodison Park after impressing in his time on loan. He is gifted with pace and trickery and utilises it to full effect on the wings. He was off to a flier last season, beating full-backs with ease and putting accurate crosses for Lukaku to finish, but he faded badly after Christmas. He has the ability to add to the 8 goals and 18 assists in his time at Everton and will look to work on his physique and concentration levels to shine for the Goodison Park outfit.
With such levels of inconsistency, it is difficult to put trust in players to do the job and it is this very aspect Koeman will have to address in his gifted squad. Tapping the potential will be essential as each of these players, if properly channelled, represent as much value as a new signing.
