Time for Ronald Koeman to leave Everton

On Sunday afternoon, Everton suffered yet another bad day at the office, as Arsenal came to Goodison Park and left with a 5-2 victory.

Granted the Toffees played the last 20 or so minutes without midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who saw red on 68 minutes, but still, the performance was a poor one. It is not the first time Arsenal have hammered Everton.

However, the defeat was just the latest in a string of terrible results and performances from Everton this season. The buck must stop somewhere and that is squarely at the door of boss Ronald Koeman.

Koeman to blame

Some will say that director of football Steve Walsh is not completely blameless for what now looks like poor transfer business from the men from Merseyside. In reality, it looked like the Toffees had made clever signings at first. However, once you take stock of the Everton squad, it is horribly balanced.

When the transfer window shuts, you really see who the good coaches and managers are in every league. A good coach can create a team that is better than the sum of its parts. He inspires and knows how to best get through to his players.

Unfortunately, it seems that Koeman is a mediocre coach. During his Southampton days, there were murmurs from behind the scenes that the Dutchman was not a very well liked character within the club.

There were very few tears shed on the south coast when he departed to join Everton. Maybe that should have told Everton something.

Looking through his CV, the Dutchman has a habit of failing at clubs and then blaming everybody around him for the team’s failures.

I am sure this time he must take the majority of the blame. His team selections and formations have been poor at times. Koeman’s behaviour towards certain players has also been downright disrespectful.

Never connected with the fans

Koeman always comes across as a cold and arrogant guy. He seems to have no connection with the club or the fans. He has made it clear that it is just a job to him.

That may be true that it is just a job. However, every successful manager or coach has bought into the clubs ideals and had an emotional connection with the club they manage. Without that connection, fans believe that a boss does not care about what happens to the team.

Koeman obviously cares about the team’s results. However, his demeanour and attitude since joining Everton suggest it is more caring about his career than whether he makes the team and club successful.

Favourite for the chop

Unsurprising considering the Toffees recent form, Ronald Koeman is the favourite to be the next Premier League boss to leave his job at odds of 2/7.

Koeman is a man with a big ego, who will not walk out on the Everton job. The Dutchman would lose all compensation if he did that and his reputation would take major damage too.

However, the former Southampton boss may well be relieved of his duties if the Toffees produce another such inept performance at Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday night.

Everton fans had big expectations at the start of the season, but most fans were realistic about their team. They did not expect to pick up many points from their opening five games of the campaign. They did not expect to be languishing in the relegation zone at this point of the season either, though.

Quite simply Everton have not been good enough this season. The Toffees have not looked like improving either. Koeman believes the players are behind him, but performances suggest otherwise.

Poor tactics, signings and team selections may be the legacy of Ronald Koeman at Everton. I somehow doubt that the Dutchman will achieve his dream of managing Barcelona anytime soon.

A number of candidates have already been mentioned for the job, including the likes of David Unsworth, David Moyes and Slaven Bilic. Whether any of the likely candidates could bring success to Everton is unclear.

However, at the moment it seems none of them could do any worse. Everton are a team that cannot defend or attack. For me, that is down to Ronald Koeman and he must be shown the exit door before it is too late.

Should Everton fire Ronald Koeman?