Koeman responds to predecessor's critique of his defence

'Yes, yes and yes'

Any idiot can see that the defence has improved this season; I'm no longer looking through my fingertips at two goals up and 20 minutes to go!

Then he talks these words as we've obviously improved under Koeman. Least he's still true to form. Talking rubbish!

We were defensively awful, badly organised and unfit under his tenure. We are really showing now how Ronald has managed to turn around such a mess in a short period of time.

As for Martinez, laughable comments, he should thank that his "good talkin" got him the Belgian job, Bobby's bullshit meter must have been on overtime. We move on...

By which stage, Everton will be challenging for a top four place and will be looking forward to finally putting some well overdue silverware on the table.

Lukaku got you 2 more years pay and a £10M pay out...what with that, the Kone fee and wages, Alcaraz's wages, Niasse fee and wages. That must be £40M weighed up against a nice Xmas video and some pictures of Ball and Labone etc put on the wall at Finch Farm.

"[H]e is a really good talker, a good communicator and all that," the Dutchman said of his predecessor. "He speaks nice and like everybody he is a human being defending himself... aka, he talks a good game.

Just one of many idiotic decisions our former egotistical manager made. To even comment on Everton FC is disgraceful considering the mess he left us in.

Once Koeman get's the players to fully integrate his philosophy then I predict Everton will become a top 4 team.

He put out teams that were 75% fit to me that is the most damning thing I have ever heard about a manager.

You should hang your head in shame Roberto and if your sizable ego won't allow you to do that just STFU because you are embarrassing yourself.

It's entything Entertaining to watch, as long as he has no actual influence on Anton... and he doesn't, thank heavens.

He mucked things up all around and rather than nip any in the bud he turned up the volume, but he can spot "a fault" in others no problem.

Let him carry on with his Emperors new clothes version of all things football, he's Belgium's problem now not ours.

Martinez's comments about the team highlights his biggest personal flaw, he can't admit he's at fault for anything. It was the same throughout his tenure here and it was the one thing that made me dislike him as an individual not just as an awful manager.

Not once in his time here did he take blame for mistakes or poor performances. Even after he leaves, he criticizes the defending, putting blame onto the new manager and the defenders. In reality the rot set in from his coaching.

The positive spin and slick salesman like demeanor he portrays makes everyone like him. Probably why Distin fell out with him as he saw through the sham that he was.

Martinez eventually deserved to be sacked; however, I do think he deserves a little bit more respect than he is getting on this site and please don't give me that shit he was "lucky"in his first season, you don't get 72 points over a season , getting to the quarters of the FA Cup plus recording the double over Man Utd for the first time since 1969 through sheer luck!

I find Martinez is all too easily a figure of fun for most Evertonians however, let's be honest, 'Bobby brown shoes' had us all eating out of his hand in that first season of 2013-14

Koeman is doing a great job after a shaky start and at this point we are 32 points short of our record total in the Premier League, we may or may not beat it; however, we were still dumped out of both cups early on this season and let's not forget that Martinez is the proud owner of a FA Cup winners medal which is something that Moyes nor Koeman and the majority of the current Everton team does not have.

Martinez is a good talker and can put a positive spin on the most comprehensive of defeats and he can be the most stubborn of managers who simply will not change his principles of how the game should be played; however, he does have the silverware to show he is not all talk!

The man who encouraged Stones to do his Cruyff turns in the box and said Cleverley was the best midfielder in England? Please go away, Roberto. Nobody's listening to you anymore.

Sorry buddy, Koeman has plenty of silverware to drown out Bobby's single cup, won while relegating his club. Martinez did achieve much of that success off of a very solid and talented team that he inherited. As opposed to Koeman inheriting a very toxic situation, but in my opinion a fair amount of talent.

Martinez proved himself to be completely incompetent at managing our club. International management is probably his perfect space. He can get very talented players, from the best clubs and managers in the world, and have them play a couple of games relying on all of the hardwork done by their club managers.

As mentioned above, Martinez gave us a first season that we all enjoyed, then lost his way by playing idealistic football.

A rigid adherence to his style with no Plan B. He brought about his own inevitable downfall. Martinez treading on thin ice in his criticism of Koeman.

Martinez? I think he showed a bit of human frailty with that comment, as picked up on by Koeman. With the words of our great manager: "It's okay."

Remember, this is the idiot who didn't agree with scoring from a corner! He gave me heart failure every time we were defending a corner. He is nothing but a cabaret act who wouldn't look out of place in Mind Your Language.

Koeman has been slowly improving and rebuilding the team. The players Martinez brought in, like Cleverley, Kone, Alcaraz, McGeady, have been shown to be not up to standard and have been shipped out. Koeman has been dismantling his legacy and building his own stronger legacy.

I believe the Watford loss helped everyone see how much needed changing and we are now seeing the improvements. I am still somewhat astonished how Martinez can still end up becoming the manager of Belgium, interesting to see how that works out!

I think it was a mistake to recruit Martinez as Moyes replacement - one good season out of three seasons, demonstrates that along with some pretty average players

It is also funny seeing him to criticise the defence – in the middle of the season – without looking at the numbers. Also, nice response from Koeman. ;)

Yes, the 13-14 season was a good one, but that doesn't detract from the mess we were in last season. He chose to make his latest comments, he wasn't forced, so is open to the current criticism.

He'd be sensible to concentrate on his own job rather than comment on other's, and just move on 'positively'. He doesn't manage us now, that's Koeman's job.

IMO you are 100% correct in your post... except your argument only applies to one season – his first. The following 2 seasons, he set about dismantling everything. He set himself up for ridicule and almost succeeded in transforming our Club into an annnexe of Wigan.

As for the FA Cup... You can very often have an easy ride to the final. Teams that win their cup matches on the day show the form that they were due, after a horrendous run of form in the league.

Many teams that are struggling in the league often come good in a cup match.Not that it was intentional (the show of form), only because the cup happened to be in the fixtures. Imho, such was the case in the two semi-finals we reached in last season.

Martinez was always a figure of fun because his 'vision' was just a poor copy of the one giving the present Man City such angst. He was a joke at Wigan and Everton just provided him with a bigger stage!

How the hell he can criticise any coach is galling and he is by far the worst thing that happened to the club in many years, as aside from a few transfers that came good, he took the club and its supporters to hell.

Even the RS could see through him... I reckon he must take some potions as it's incredible how Anderlecht turned him down, yet he got the Belgian national coach job.

Working people will never get close to what the fraud is earning and the guy made his priorities clear with his epic last minute crap reasons and he was often focusing his priorities on his media slots. El Loco, and enough said...

Okay, his first season was great to watch, but once he'd put HIS stamp on things we turned to crap. He is the worst manager since Mike "The Suntan" Walker. Given time, he'd have taken us down as well to join Wigan in his list of "successes".

Though I agree our defence still needs work, on paper we've conceded the 4th least goals in the league which is a huge improvement from last season.

Maybe this is why the man is being criticised, because he oversaw the defensive frailties that had become part of our team?

Any team can win a cup with favourable ties in their run. His 1st season we scored loads and were okay at the back... because Moyes had us tight at the back. He dismantled that in time and his 'vision' had us in chaos.

He'd have taken us down in time if he was still in charge. Could have been as early as this season. Roberto – it's over... Stop yapping about our team.

Fucking BIG difference, eh, Bobby!

If he truly wanted to be snide about it he could probably have highlighted the fact that the defender who looked most off the pace against Bournemouth was the bloke his successor brought in to tighten things up. 

Regardless, anything Martinez utters about Everton is meaningless now. The part of the Guardian article I was more interested in was Koeman confessing Barkley spoke to him about feeling 'singled out' and how the manager subsequently dealt with it:

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"The England international came in for severe and repeated criticism from Koeman earlier in the season, prompting the 23-year-old to ask his manager why he was being singled out.

“I spoke about this with Ross,” Koeman said. “He mentioned that it is always about him. I said: ‘OK, start to be afraid when they don’t ask about you. Then you need to be afraid. And if the manager is still criticising you as a player then it means he still believes in your qualities. If I don’t talk about you any more than that is when you need to be afraid.’ I understand it is always difficult for him. There are always a lot of comments and questions about him. We had a conversation about this."
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Wonder how Martinez would have handled that one?

"I told Ross to go home and study 2001: A Space Odyssey so he would understand that every midfielder who came before was merely a prehistoric monkey chucking a massive bone in the air, whereas he is the futuristic, space orbiting, super satellite that the shitty bone tool transforms into."

I think he did a good job investing in the youth setup and facilities but some of his post-match analysis comments were risible.

Let's move on and enjoy this good run we're on. Just hope we can get 3 points at the Riverside.

But let's go through the goals: there are times when you've got to put your hands up and say you've been done by great play, and their 1st goal, great spot by Wilshere, great movement by King and a fine finish.

2nd one all over the place admittedly, 3rd one wasn't so much out as he could've sat in Row C to pass it back.

File under "it happens"... but for Bob not to say that we're a different defensively doesn't say much for him as a coach.

I've no Idea in what context he's commented on our defence this season. If the topic of the defence came up and he said that all was still not right, is that not the truth?

Who thinks that Baines and Coleman are good defenders? Koeman bought Williams to improve our defensive record which has had limited success. Gueye has also made a difference since he was signed, but we still concede too many goals.

It's a waste of time saying anything positive about Martinez here, such as the record first season, the two cup semi-finals, a decent run in the Europa, signing Lukaku, Holgate, bringing Barkley and Stones into the first team.

We finished 11th for the last two seasons – anyone would think that we had been relegated for all the bile spouted in his direction.

You said you had no idea what context he commented on our defence this season. Perhaps you should have found out first?

Everton currently have the fourth best defence in the Premier League. His comments came across as someone taking a chance to "get their own back"... someone, dare I say, bitter!

There's a difference between bile and reasoned arguments. In the end he proved himself to be out of his depth. We were a team on the way down and he was the one in charge.

Don't know if you meant it this way but your post comes across as though two 11th place finishes were okay. They weren't!

Maybe it is because the Belgian FA don't have a Kenwright/Elstone double act to defend you anymore!

Jog on, you fraud.

Just read your post. Just goes to show when someone doesn't give the full story how easy it is to influence the outlook. You omit to mention that his team, the FA Cup winners, were relegated that season.

Ask any Evertonian if they'd accept an FA Cup win and then to be relegated! Ask any Wigan supporter if they'd hand back their FA Cup win to swap a second to bottom place in the Championship for a place in the premiership.

Ridiculous argument!

We may concede a few goals here and there but in general we have been better defensively and on that side of things it was always gonna take Koeman time to sort out but I feel we're getting there.

Koeman and the team will get it right. The midfield looks really strong these days and just needs a bit of flair adding to it in key areas but the defence does still need work imo. We do need a younger, more fresher centre-back to come in, preferably 2 imo, one to slot in alongside Williams and another that will take both Jagielka's & Funes Mori's places in the squad and eventually take Williams's place in the team. We have Holgate still learning, improving and coming through, both Pennington & Browning coming back from injury and looking to push on so with a bit more transformation at the back come the summer and I'm sure we'll be fine.

Nice media type. Not really going to be a contender for top job in Premier League in the future

Just watching Niasse against Arsenal. And have to say he is playing well.

I guess I was trying to say that in the 3 years of his tenure Martinez at times had us playing some decent football, as I commented above he got the boot and deservedly so in fact soon into his 3rd season I called out Paul Clement the current Swans manager as a possible replacement but to say his time at Everton was a complete failure is simply not true.

Furthermore it was certainly not my intention to criticize fellow blues and if my comments came across that way then I apologize .

Meanwhile, I am watching the Gooners v Hull and our man Niasse who is not that bad, you never know we may get our money back on this fella.

Watching the Arsenal game as well and there was a perfect low cross right across the Arsenal box and Niasse didn't even react to it. Didn't even break stride to try and connect with it. Looked totally unprepared and unaware.

They're the sort of things coaches see and make decisions on, not doing OK on the wing or in build up play. He looked OK if you didn't look carefully, I would say.

The pair were deluded whilst at Everton and remain deluded to this day. Nothing is ever their fault. Martinez is a con artist that believes his own rhetoric. Moyes is a try-hard that cannot accept his limitations. Good riddance.

Is reaching two semi-finals regarded as 'success'?

Just curious.

That Markovic looks handy too.

Hindsight provides clarity and it's obvious to see that his 72 point season was largely thanks to the foundations Moyes left behind (I say that even though I wanted Moyes gone since 2009). Credit to Martinez for bringing in Barry and Lukaku – his gift of the gab works both ways – but look closely at the 13-14 season.

After about 6 months, when his dismantling of the Moyes set up was taking shape, results and performances dived. The last couple of months were almost relegation form. No need to say anything about the next two seasons.

The guy walked off with 10m fucking pounds after signing Niasse without even seeing him play. He is simply a nauseating second-hand car salesman. Remember his 'deep Hispanic contacts'? Just how many gems did we sign from South America? Actually how many players full stop did we sign from South America? Mirallas and Lukaku laughing when they found out he was the new Belgian boss – that tell you anything?

He is a total fraud imo and I am glad he's fucked off.

As for Colin at #18, I was never eating out of Robertos' hand. I felt he had a first season honeymoon period and I was always worried about us. I never felt confident and I wanted him gone in Season 2.

I wanted us to bin him off and go for Eddie Howe but I'm happy with Koeman. I wanted Simeone if I'm honest but there you go. I don't hate the man. I just thought he was naive and stubborn.

I'll keep saying this on different threads but we need to sign up Harry Maguire from Hull. He's going to be world class and is only 23.

Nothing would surprise me anymore, apparently getting knocked out at the first time of asking in both cups constitutes "a huge improvement".

Perhaps I'm getting confused, maybe the "huge improvement" is what we will all be celebrating when we get another seven points in the league to top last season's much lamented 49 points.

Baited breath 'n all that...

Our form in the last couple of months of the 2013-14 season was 9 wins in 12 games, including 7 wins in a row. To say it was 'almost relegation form' is simply untrue.

If anything, it was his reluctance to ditch the crumbling Moyes foundations (Howard, Jagielka, etc) that was his undoing.

Strange that so many of those who were crowing that the Moyes era of drab Route 1, hesitant, defensive, aspire-to-mediocrity football was over and the School of Science was back etc etc should have turned around so completely.

Martinez did very well at first and then found his philosophy difficult to maintain. I think he may do very well with Belgium. Incidentally, he is correct to say that conceding three against Bournemouth is evidence of defensive frailty.

Know what? I was wrong. And I don't have any interested in anything he has to say about Everton and defence. He failed on that score, and lost the dressing room. Or is that over the top in your view?

He used all his luck up and was found out to be a coward, being scared to drop the established players for younger, and in the case of Robles and Davies especially, much better alternatives. He was like a rabbit caught in the headlights for the last 2 seasons, and even his first gave us our worst derby defeat for 30 odd years, and his idiotic 89th minute subs were unbelievable.

Everyone was wrong except him, and criticism wasn't allowed in the dressing room, as he proved to be very petty and dictatorial. I'm not 100% impressed with Koeman yet, but at least he's (belatedly) doing the things we all want him to, before it gets too late.

Are you saying that Tom Davies should have been in the first team two years ago?

He came to Everton to a defence drilled by Moyes to defend as a unit. This started to fade in Martinez's second season. Two semi-finals are good but cup runs are lotteries. League position is where it matters.

Martinez fails to mention fitness. Possession football going nowhere and our league position dropping each season. I wanted it to work under Martinez but was relieved when he went.

All the organisation and team spirit that Moyes had painfully built up was destroyed in a season and a half.

Martinez has no defense (pardon the pun). The results of his management speak for themselves.

Davies proved he was ready when Unsworth played him – how come Martinez never knew? Maybe because he didn't care, and it showed...

Also, not forgetting that we gave the pair of them their big chance and they both shit on us. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Yes, getting beat by a piss-poor Man Utd side in the semi and getting absolutely demolished, fucked, twatted in the Europa League...

Happy days. What a manager.

Yes, getting beat by a poss poor Man Utd side in the semi & getting absolutely demolished, fucked, twatted in the Europa.

Happy days. What a manager.

You were once the manager at Everton Football Club. You were dismissed. Dismissed because you failed to return results acceprable to this venerable, historic, classic, giant amonst the worlds football elite. You failed.

Ronald Koeman is presently the manager at Everton Football Club. You are not. This situation will never, ever be reversed. Never. Accept that. Accept that your major failing at Everton Football Club was your blindness to the shambolic state of our defence and defending. Shambles Roberto.

Your comments regarding the quality of our defending are nothing short of laughable. Laughter of the wild eyed incredulous and horrified kind, not the sort of warm laughter that follows a comical anecdote.

We took you to our hearts. That was then, before you failed us, before you covered failure with dissembling words by the lorryload.

Criticise yourself and apply the remedy to the point of success before you have the bare arsed nerve to pick fault with anything and everything connected with Everton Football Club.

The kinder, magnanimous part of me accepts that you must have been responsible, if even in the smallest possible measure, for some good. Yet the stone cold truth is that the good will forever be entirely overshadowed by the sheer mass of verbiage which you deployed rather than simply addressing the blatantly obvious. You are the sole architect of your Everton heritage Roberto, you.

Yours, most sincerely,
Tony Draper.

I must admit to writing similar things after beer when I am convinced the whole world would stop and listen to my wisdom. Next morning, I realise they won't!

Same 25 fixtures last season, we scored 3 less goals and conceded 11 more.

Facts always win over opinions.

Yes, the defence was poor in his last two seasons but that was mainly due to the fact that Jagielka was finished and Stones thought he was better than he actually was (hopeless in the air for a centre-half). Let's not forget that Martinez produced our highest ever points tally (72) in the premier league era, won away to a so called big 4 club for the only time in a quarter of a century now and won seven league games in a row for the first time since we last won the title in 1987.

Koeman has to be careful in the summer and not neglect the defence or he could have an equally appalling second season as Martinez. Why ? because Funes Mori is not a great defender and Williams is too slow now being the wrong side of 30, as is Baines. Coleman also is not a great defending full back. Things could easily go wrong if he thinks that is our immediate future back line.

A piss-poor team won the FA Cup didn't they? If Lukaku scored when he should have, we would have very likely won the cup.

Our Europa League record in 2014 was 6 wins including beating Wolfsburg 2-0 away and 4-1 at home, 2 draws and 2 losses.
We went out on goal difference 6-4. That does no equate to getting absolutely demolished, fucked, twatted to me!

Criticise Martinez by all means, but all this "he's a coward, idiot, clown" etc is way over the top for the results in his tenure. We finished 11th in the Premier League twice, once when playing in the Europa League, big deal!

Where are we going to finish this year? 7th, an improvement, yes... but not great, is it? Let's see what Koeman brings in a season or two.

Any manager of Everton has his work cut out because almost certainly there will be six teams that will outspend us each season; even maintaining 7th place in this league is by no means a given.

Interesting that those defending Martinez's record focus on his supposed amazing value for entertainment. And not the defence. Which is indefensible. And the very thing he opted to criticise. Hence people pointing out the irony. And his bullshit.

Only one man should answer that..

The Donald: "Well here's what I'd like to ask Gorman. Do people who see the occasional mention of my name in a thread, have to exaggerate to such a degree that they will suggest these mentions appear in every thread? C'mon, give me a break. Believe me, this is huge exaggeration from Gorman, HUGE! And believe me it won't stop there folks, not a chance. Soon...you know...very soon, he'll be telling you that Bigly Duncan Farquerson scored 300 goals. But the good news is I'm going to put up a firewall, nobody puts up..."

Etc blah.

Any manager who describes two semi-final defeats as success and calls a knock-out in the last 16 a "great European adventure" has no place in this club.

Very good first season, poor second and third season. Deservedly fired.