Koeman surprised by Klaassen’s struggles in England

Answers a lot of posters suggesting he should get a chance. Even the guy who brought him here thinks he couldn't adapt.

My team verses Saints...4-3-3.

Pickford
Coleman
Keane
Mori
Baines
Klassen
Beni
Vlasic
Walcott
Tosun (The Main Man)
Rooney

Then again,what do I know over the genius of Large Samuel !.

Short of a huge turnaround he is beginning to establish himself as the worst signing in my memory.

I can understand why fans want to see him play after all that money but I don't see him as an answer to anything really - would rather Sigurdsson was back.

Don't pass judgement on Vlasic and Lookman just yet. They're 19 for Christ's sake.

We have at last got a settled back seven which, oddly, has enabled all of them to play at something approaching their best. This, in turn, meant that we look like a team that knows what it's doing. Limited in scope certainly but miles away from where we had been.

In the last two away games everyone playing knew the plan was to bring on Mori and push the fullbacks on. They did it smoothly. Result Seamus hits the bar in the last few at Swansea, Leighton lays on the second and Seamus nearly gets on the end of another.

We currently have a team which has shape and some confidence. We haven't had that all season.

Ok, I think he’d have made an impact and been a good signing in the short term. My alternatives of Dolberg (Ajax) and Dembele (Celtic) have had poor seasons, so what do I know?

But, Koeman was gambling on his ability to change from a 433 to a 4231 and to change the style from high tempo and direct to low tempo and possession based. Regardless of Giroud I fail to see any evidence of that style working and the team was not fit enough for the alternative. In short, Koeman over estimated the ability of himself and his coaching staff.

I don’t think Klaassen fits into the system we have that works, and so he needs to be sold. I would bet that he goes to a top side and has us all wondering, if only. I’m sure he’ll rediscover his form and excel and show everyone just why cryuff waxed lyrical over him. He’s definitely a Barca type player, whether he possesses enough quality to actually play at that level remains to be seen. But if Napoli want you (2nd in serie A) then you must be decent.

I think they would have done aswell if not better than Davies and DCL if given the same amount of opportunities.

We do know how to pick 'em, don't we ?

Link

I don’t recall anything said before the season kicked off. It was more around then as he tried to give Klaassen some breathing space.

Lookman scored on his debut, practically on his first touch. Vlasic scored on his debut. They both got, what, maybe ten more appearances apiece, mostly as subs?

And they both turn 21 in October. Let's see what they've got then, eh?

Personally, I think Ronald was just covering for him, having realized that Davy had been a big mistake.

I had to agree, and can't believe people in the highest places couldn't see this?

I heard Walsh, told Moshiri, that he's only been responsible for Pickford, and Lookman, even though I don't know how such a rumor could have been started!

Ajax were brilliant last season, they beat Celta Vigo, Standard Leige, Panathiniakos, Legia Warsaw, FC Copenhagen, Schalke, and Lyon (one with Lacazette and a much better one than thrashed us) on the way to the final. They simply did not just turn up having played no one and get thrashed by United. They won the league in Netherlands, they made the EL final and they had a good side, played good football, and Davy Klaassen was the captain, and at the very least, a big part of it. Some would say he was their best player, so much so that Ajax fans were making trips to Goodison (probably would have been many more had he found that form here), and he had a hero's welcome back to Ajax.

The guy is not shit. He did not adapt quickly, his game does not suit the football we play, or the footballers we have. The fact that Napoli would have signed him but for a technicality, and would have used him en route to possibly winning the Italian Serie A tells you just how good the guy is.

I'd sell him, if we'd get our money back, but I do know he's going to be the one who got away.

As for Klaasen, I agree, he looked less than ordinary in the Europa League final but at £24m there must be a player in there somewhere. If not, if he really is that bad that he cannot get so much as a start in these final two games, then somebody (Koeman/Walsh) dropped one hell of a ricket.

We can then say goodbye to £24m, as after Koeman's comments to the Dutch media there will be somebody in Holland (or Italy) looking to take him off our hands for a pittance.

Just posted what my team would be & wonder how the faithful would react on hearing it at 2pm on Saturday, maybe they would see some decent attacking football for a change.

No guts... no glory... no trophies!

Being forced out of position by Siggy/Rooney and, as Steve noted, playing in a squad that doesn't really suit his strengths hasn't helped. I really hope he gets a chance (under a new manager) next season.

The only other place to play him would be with Gueye to sit and hold and Klaasen to his right and Sigurdsson to his left. But we’d need to be playing a poor side to try that.

Klassan was the big fish in a relatively small pond. Dutch football is typically technical, the premier league is a different beast. It's played at a relentless pace by freakish athletes. To survive you have to find the power and energy to compete. Davey never adjusted.

I can remember Ray Wilkins saying he struggled in Scottish football originally because of its pace and aggression. Being intelligent a top pro and determined to be successful he got the gym did some strength training and once up to speed began to deliver masterclass after masterclass for Rangers.

Maybe Klaassen physically can't reach the levels needed to compete in this league???

Matt, his lack of physicality is something Koeman mentioned. He does seem very frail, but surely that would be known?

Regardless, is he any less physically capable than David Silva? He just needed games to learn and to adapt.

Was David Ginola a physical player? Of course not. As Koeman even said, the issue was no striker. Somehow I think he would have thrived with Lukaku up top taking the pressure off the midfielder.

I don't know? Possibly he would flourish at City? I think Silva has adapted to the league is deceptively quick and obviously, his touch and ability to find space between the lines is exceptional. Quite possibly in a better team with a more suitable style we would see the best of him regardless of physicality.

David,

Agree to a point but gotta disagree about Ginola. The Frenchman was a freak physically. Not a grafter but strong fast and powerful on the ball no comparison with Klaassen.

I don't many on here had been surprised at the purchase of the wrong players for above average money.

Although not in my top 3 I'll admit the 2 x rebuilding of teams he had to do at Southampton made me think he'd do a good job.

Some things aren't meant to be. A bit like Klaassen, move him on. £16m.

His size is not the damn issue. The issue is the shite style of football we play that has us hoofing the ball out to the wings for someone like Bolasie to try to hold up one on two or three defenders. The problem is the football being played at Everton, not the talented players not being “physical” enough.

Klaassen was brought up to play the game with the ball, keeping it moving and working in space. That's exactly what we fucking need at Everton. Not this zombie shite of pass, hold, look around, pass backward, hold, pass sideways, hold and get pressured, the hoof it up-field and then chase around for 5 damn minutes.

He lacks pace, but so do plenty in the Premier League now and before him. But physically and mentally he's not at the races. He should be a technically good player given his pedigree, but he squanders possession and created nothing in the chances he had.

The European as league was a failed audition. Is he good enough to keep Rooney and Davies out of the side. It would be nice to see it from the bench before discard him in the summer - 3 managers don't rate him.

You have to fight for the right to play. The team you propose would lose the fight in the first round.

Whoever is manager next season, starting from "we were unbeaten in the last 9 last season" gives a platform. Totally different circumstances, a team light years away from where we are now, but the second half of the 83-84 season was the foundation of the 84-85 title.

He is a one of our many square pegs.
The lad reminds me of Stephen Naismith without the goals.

We would do well if we can move him on in the summer for half of what we paid him. You could say that about most of our signings including the manager how Walsh is still in a job defies logic.

I have no problem with the lads coasting along & gaining 40 PTS next season whoever the Gaffer is,my only wish is we've already bagged the League Cup Trophy with seven joyful games that leads the faithful to believe again...but it seems am the only Blue that wants this...I will remain the lone voice in the wilderness dreaming of the day decent football can return to G.P & we start to win Cups we have NEVER won in our history instead of showing nothing but contempt for them season after season... sigh.

1.The League Cup...which leads to
2.The Europa Cup...which leads to
3.The Super Cup...which leads to...

REAL HISTORY !.

Nothing else matters to me atm,but the road Moshiri wants to take all Blues but me share,breaking the top 6 means still no Trophy & when you see teams like Man.City fail in the C.L the omen's don't look good for us,we couldn't even beat Limassol at Home !.

More misery to come I fear...23 years & counting...jeez.

Apart from Schneiderlin...SELL !.

The main thing in that Final narrative was how so young a squad got there to begin with. Klaassen was their best player (by far) and their talisman.

Against this was a club managed by one of the best defensive strategist ever. A club desperate to win to get into the Champions League, since they were doing shit in the Premier League. A club vastly more talented and experienced.

You watched that game? Klaassen was given zero room to draw a second breath, never mind a pass. Mourinho had him man-marked and kicked or his mid-fielders to know where Davy was and jump between him and whoever had the ball.

Even then, with Man Utd having a strangle-hold on the game, Davy's teammates just kept kicking it towards wherever Klaassen was standing.

Ajax had no chance, Klaassen or not.

All that said, I agree with others that Davy needs to be in an attacking squad; passing and moving. Lukaku leaving, Barkley out after surgery, all the incoming? No way he could settle. And, no doubt, hasn't. Doesn't mean he can't.

Keep Klaassen, I say. He didn't devolve from a fine player to a no-mark. The Europa League game is no measure of him. If we accept that as true, De Bruyne sucks; given our crushing of Wolfsburg in that year's tournament.

We need the new manager in. If Moshiri is replacing Sam, it must be Silva, no?

Keep Davy and let's see how it plays. The guy can play.

To be honest, several posters repeat themselves over and over so you are in good company!!!

I hate the fact that players are classed as a DM or ACM etc. Midfielders in years gone by could do everything. Tackle, pass, score, run and defend. It's what a midfielder's job was.

Alan Ball, Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey could do all of the above. Steven and Sheedy were equally at home in the centre as out wide and regularly got goals. Bracewell and Reid, might not have scored that many, but they both surged forward creating for others. Tim Cahill would work tirelessly and still pop up with goals from midfield.

Yet players like Gana and Schneiderlin are both so limited in attack that, when either or both play, we are like a man down. McCarthy can't score when he's fit. Rooney doesn't have his legs anymore to go box to box, Sigurdsson lacks pace and can't tackle, and Klaassen hasn't been able to break into the team despite the above players' limitations.

We end up "carrying" any of the above because they're not an all-out "midfielder" and we can't get goals from midfield. I have a bit more time for Tom Davies as at least he's positive going forward but he's not the answer yet. Surely today's midfielder should be trying to be the next Lampard and, dare I say it, Gerrard rather than a Makelele.

I'd love to see a classic 4-4-2 again. Two strikers causing problems for defenders (out of fashion now) and four midfielders who can get into the box and score goals, from central or out wide. I'd rather watch that than any of the turgid defensive shit I've witnessed this season.

Klaassen isn't orthodox. A lot of his touches are little flicks, so I agree he'd look good in a team where it's fast-moving one-touch stuff... but he's always going to struggle in a "play the way your facing, take a touch to control it (if you need to) - get rid, track, track, track" English set up. Expecting Klaassen to show anything under Allardyce is like expecting Allardyce to donate his entire life earnings to charity.

Still, at least Koeman's not picking the bones of confidence of a demoralised player that he's still in charge of. Guess Ronald'll be surprised when the Dutch team fail to win Euro 2020... and Barcelona aren't knocking on his flushed head.

To stand a chance of succeeding at a new club in a new country, it would surely have made sense to bring him on slowly, perhaps with a few 30 minutes sub appearances together with a couple of starts to give him a chance to bed in with his new team mates and to really get the feel of the pace of the English game. Continuity counts for so much and yet he was never given the opportunity to play his way into the team ethic, such as it was when he joined.

To write a player off after so few cameo appearances just seems counter-productive to me. Unless or until players like Klaasen and Vlasic are given a good run in the team we will never know just how good or bad they really are. The same can be said about Lookman of course, who Leipzig seem to rate highly while Sam can't be bothered with him. Whose opinion do we prefer? A club in the CL or Sam Allardyce, serial loser?

No sir. Davy was maybe the fifth best player in that side. Even at 20 Sanchez was easily the top talent and has subsequently shown world-class for Spurs and Colombia. Traore was poached by Lyon and has had a brilliant first season there at 22, and Chelsea has right of first refusal on his buyback. Ziyech is superior for both pace and skill, Younes is more explosive, and Dolberg scored a goal every two games last year at 19, although he's gone off the boil a bit this season.

Klaassen's value in that side was his maturity, leadership and a world-class ability to read the game -- the same characteristics Sigurdsson has, but without Siggy's skills. And the pace and quickness isn't the same.

My concern was then, and is now, that Klaassen just doesn't have Prem talent. He does deserve a better chance than he's been given, and I hope he gets it, but I'm not optimistic that he'll have an impact.

Klaassen
Lookman
Vlasic
Garbutt

to name just a few.

None of the above will be given a chance next season, if (god forbid) Allardyce stays.