Koeman pleased with opening-day victory

Offensively though it's not really clicked yet. The number of new players is obviously effecting this.

Hopefully no more confusing line ups though. Calvert-Lewin was employed as a right wingback to try to exploit that area up to right wing. Fair enough Koeman had a plan but it was misjudged and led to a woeful first 45.

We need an established striker and creative midfielder. Is Lookman crap??

Calvert-Lewin up against Eric Pieters? The man is a brick out house and 'we' as in Koeman had us punting balls at Calvert-Lewin for the first 20 mins.

Baldrick has concocted better 'cunning' plans than that. Koeman got it totally wrong, spent the rest of the game trying put right what he had ballsed up.

Spare a thought for the unused subs who might have been needed to turn or save the game as Koeman needlessly used one on correcting his mistake.

Seen that before with this fella.

Build up play was terrible at times too many mis-placed passes, and most of the team was guilty, Klaassen was particularly shocking!

Baines tried to force the issue on a few occasions but no focal point up front nothing going forward was working.

Having said all that though my attention was on what my 3-year-old was doing and not a lot on the game.

Second half played a lot better moved the ball around with purpose, Calvert-Lewin looked decent through the middle but perhaps could have looked up a little more.

Stoke are a good solid unit though and have a half decent team. I was expecting a scrappy game and glad we come out with the win.

Just watched the game again on MotD and we played better than what I saw at the ground but still not good enough.

Happy with the result but the team needs to click soon.

We don't know what he knew or expected by fielding his starting eleven but whatever "punts balls to Calvert-Lewin" amounts to it was Dominic, to his (and Koeman's I suggest) credit, who crossed in a way any wide-man would be proud of for Rooney to score.

Having astutely made his half-time change Dominic was then able to meld well up front with Sandro and with a little more experience may have presented a second goal for Rooney.

Rooney epitomised the benefit of having a player able in a blink to play in different roles during a match. Today Calvert-Lewin may well have taken a stride in gaining the same aptitude, but let's not give any credit to Koeman eh?

I have to agree. Quite a naive plan from a manager on ٤m a year. I am actually within the pro Koeman camp, not completely though, but today's starting line up was wrong.

There is so much work to do. We have lots of talented new players but it's difficult to work out where they all fit in. I didn't recruit them though. It's up to the management to justify the recruitment.

It'll take time to blend and patience is required but currently we still seem to be several key elements short of major improvement despite the new signings.

Credit to him that he changed it up at half time, and I never thought i'd ever be happy to see Martina coming on like I did. I was reasonably happy with the 2nd half overall, thought we played some decent stuff at times.

Happy with the result of course. Davies for Klaassen, a normal right back (should be Kenny although Martina's crosses where decent yesterday) for Williams (as per second half) and that's probably our strongest Xi right now.

Work to be done Ron. Mainly by you, and let's never pick that starting line-up in that formation again eh? You muppet!!

Klaassen, Rooney, Sandro...all like to occupy the same space. And god knows where Sigurdsson fits into that. Calvert-Lewin on the wing? One recognised wide man in Baines, completely isolated.

I can't even have a go at the players. I don't think anyone played too badly. It's just a system that had no chance of working.

Very worrying indeed.

I envy you.

He''ll be all eyes and ears in 3 years and will see us win the league.

I got maybe 30/35 years to go, I Hope to celebrate the league with your 10/20/30-something son.

Sandro seems to be the opposite of Lukaku in that he puts in far too much effort. In that I mean, that at the start of the second half he seemed to spend rather a lot of time helping out the defence and by the time he was substituted he had about run himself out.

Gana was probably our best while Schneiderlin was awful. He seemed to break into a run (wouldn't call it a sprint) only twice in the game and every pass was sideways and usually to a teammate in just as bad a position as himself and without moving to take a return. Koeman needs to look at him playing in both halves of the pitch rather than being permanently parked in or just in front of the back four.

Nice to see Keane telling Martina where he should position himself and how many times in the first half did he stand with the ball at his feet and arms outstretched asking for someone to give him a pass.

Three points, next please.

Our forward options are more worrying – Rooney, Sandro, Calvert-Lewin, Mirallas, Lookman – that's it. We need at least one more main striker - I see we are being linked with Kalinic, I would be happy with him, Benteke, or Dzeko.

Our only wide players are Bolasie (injured) and Lennon (not good enough, IMO).That maybe something to build next year.

Based on today's performance, I'd be more than willing to bring in a journey man striker to show Calvert-Lewin the ropes. The lads got talent, but we can't expect him to lead the line. And definitely not play right-wingback.

Great performances from Pickford, Keane and Rooney. Great goal and great to see him score.

Don't know wtf is going on with Schneiderlin, but he needs to get his finger out. If Ron insists on two defensive midfielders, I'd pull either Davies or Klaassen in there until he either got his shit together or they kept him out of the team.

Klaassen. Give the lad time, I can see him becoming a legend, Sandro too. Think marathon, not sprint.

Next.

Couldn't agree more, they don't compliment each other and from what I've see, Gana is streets ahead; fittest player on the park.

Not the first time he has had to abandon a plan at half-time as half-baked and ill-thought-out.

From my seat, Schneiderlin and Klaassen looked slow and somewhat clueless. Maybe time to give Davies a full game at centre midfield alongside Gueye.

Really pleased with Calvert-Lewin's energy and effort.

That said, Koeman seems to act like he has no memory from one game to the next, as if he doesn't really learn from his tactical errors. He seems to learn mid-game, and then correct it, or partially correct it, but then the next game seems equally disorganised. It seems weird.

Rooney was excellent all over the pitch. We still look off the pace. We have already had competitive games but look really rusty compared to some of the teams. Striker is a priority

How to accommodate Sigurdsson and Davies? Using Davies as a match-saver is Koeman's likely answer.

The Genius is creating a 'buggers muddle' if yesterday is anything to go by!

Half time tweaks to 4-4-2 and a totally different team.

I feel Ron is struggling to accommodate his current players,certainly a big target man to help Calvert-Lewin, wide man another another defender is needed. I thought Gana, Keane and Pickford were very good and Rooney ran his socks off.

Let's see how we fare against Man City then we will know a bit more. A win is a win against a tough physical side.

Jags and Williams not up to the 3 at the back I don't think their ball playing skills just not good enough for that system. Maybe when Coleman gets back and Bolasie it could work.

Still missing that striker that's going to make things tick.

I thought Calvert-Lewin was sharp in the second half and with a bit more experience could be a good player, in that system the striker we need is someone who can hold the ball up and allow all them midfield minded players run in behind the defence.

Rooney ran the show yesterday some of the balls he played where immense; I was impressed with Pickford as well looked solid in goal and I felt like if they had any chances to score he was there to save us.

It was a bad performance especially first half but it's always tricky first game of the season and not many teams score a lot against Stoke.

Klaassen doesn't look good enough. How much better we looked with the energy of Davies. Mirallas might do better this seaon now that he won't have Rom making the same runs.

I want to see fluid football. Wtf was that yesterday? Seriously. Last season, Koeman subbed McCarthy after 22 minutes. I'd like to of subbed Koeman after 3 minutes yesterday for a manager who doesn't confuse his players. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 3 right/wing backs on the bench and non on the field. Calvert-Lewin kind of a wing back with license to go forward with Gana covering him? That was his plan... a misshaped turnip!

Schneiderlin put in perhaps the worst performance I have seen from an Everton centre midfield player for decades. He had no energy, passed the ball a max of 5 m to the nearest player, who was often under more pressure than him, and then did not move into space. On one occasion he lost his mind and ran forward 15 m, cacked himself and ran back twice as fast, with the bloody ball, passing it back to Williams.

Obviously Koeman made a mess of the first half, changed it for the second, and admitted we need to get a lot better... Seems fairly balanced for me.

I think we need to try Lookman and Davies in the same team, take out Schneiderlin and maybe Klaassen on Thursday night, or else it will be a long evening

We looked like a team that had absolutely nothing to offer until we scored a really good goal, and then the manager finally changed the system.

Besic, should have definitely started in this formation,because it was really horrible to watch Jagielka, with the ball at his feet during the first half. He's a defender who likes to defend, and this forward, sideways, backwards football, kept ending up, with the ball at his feet, which is something he just doesn't need!

We looked better second half, agree with Joe Clithrow, on another thread, who said for twenty minutes we looked quite decent, but the house has been gutted, but only half has been repaired up to now. The next few weeks in the transfer market are going to be really crucial to how this season is going to pan out?

Dad and uncle had a lot of whiskeys but even through our alcohol induced haze we were underwhelmed by the fare. The Goodison tribe in where we were sitting in the Main Stand were respectful - first game of the season, players need to gel etc.

However, my take from the game was :

- Martina is a disaster waiting to happen
- Klaassen was off the pace in the helter-skelter of a Premier League game
- Davies bossed it for 5 minutes after coming on but then Stoke pressed and he sank bank
- Michael Keane was a dominant Centre Half, exactly what was required against Stoke.
- Pickford was excellent
- Sandro needs to improve
- Gana Gueye was Gana Gueye i.e. everywhere
- Wayne was poor first half although his goal was very good. Second half he was class.
- I don't get the criticism of Calvert-Lewin. He was played out of position first half but got an assist. Second half he did a better job than Sandro of occupying the Stoke Defence. He does not have the pace to outrun the opposition but his touch when played as a CF was pretty good.

The team is a work in progress for sure, and I am sure Klaassen and Sandro will come good.

However we need a good CF urgently. And if we play with formations that suit the players perhaps we can produce more entertaining stuff for the home faithful.

Coyfbtwl (Come on you fantastic blues that we love)

However, the amount of times Koeman has to change things after basically getting his tactics or formation wrong is becoming a slight concern.

At the moment he keeps selecting unbalanced sides that don't stand a great chance of being effective or productive in ball possession, as he likes to say.

I took one look at the side yesterday & knew he'd have to change it. As another example, I thought his tactics, team selection, & formation at Spurs last season were a joke. He is constantly fanning Calvert-Lewin around as well. Thankfully he is a young player with a great attitude.

Koeman has brought a lot to the club that I like. He's raised standards, and brought a refreshing no bullshit attitude and hard headed realism that we needed. The signings are generally good, a couple of duds aside.

But start selecting a balanced side & get some pace & verve into the squad, please.

The only really weak looking team I saw was Brighton who look still like a Championship side, (only just) they haven't really invested for the step up, and it shows.

Great Stadium though, and very passionate fans, though will be surprised if they stay in the Premier League.

Yet to see Man Utd, West Ham, Spurs and Barcodes.

One thing is becoming clear, we don't commit enough men forward. The entertainment factor is sorely missing from this squad. What I would give for a Mahrez or Payet type player, but the manager seems intent on packing the side with hard running midfielders. We will have spent an absolute fortune, but we don't have one player who will get you off your seat.

If the plan is to build from a solid defensive base, then let the players express themselves a lot more when we are up and running, I can live with that. If we carry on like this though, Koeman will soon have the fans on his back.

That felt precisely like a typical Moyes game yesterday, not good enough when you have spent £150m (when Siggy signs) the manger is also paid £6m p.a. to serve up that turgid rubbish.

The only consolation was the 3 points, but my eyes are still hurting.

“The most important word in football is balance."

"4-4-2 is the best defensive system that exists and our intention is to defend with a 4-4-2 and attack with a 4-3-3”.

Jay Woods - I have noted your stoic defence on Martina on several posts and I commend you for it, although your zeal is a little curious.

I saw some terrible defending from Martina. Two things in particular stood out for me which lead me to believe he will cost us a goal or two and is a disaster waiting to happen: a couple of poor headed clearances which required interventions from Gana to prevent a shot on goal, and two straight forward passes in dangerous areas that almost led to a break for Stoke.

We got away with those errors and yes several other players made mistakes too. But it seems to me that the boy cannot head a football.

He did well with his crossing, and had we had more men in the box he could have had an assist. This suggests to me he is not a Full Back but more of a wing-back or deep lying right midfielder.

In Koeman's mis-shapen formation he was not suited. He may have done better as a wing back with license to bomb forward when we played 3 at the back.

But he was brought on as an RB in a back four, and for me, can't play there. Especially as there was no natural right sided player to cover for him.

PS (#49) – too brief.

Terrible tactics from Koeman though, he looks clueless at the moment.

Dennis - 39. The whiskey hangover has been overcome by pleasant feeling sharing a wonderful personal experience with fellow blue noses.

What is up with him, he looked a good player last season; he's not worth or earning his place up to now, lifeless.

Trying to keep it short for John Wilson and cocked it up.

A consistent error in judgement to get things so wrong you have to make tactical substitutions at half time. Paul Tran eloquently outlines it leads to a waste of resource that will be required later in the game.

Last season posters would counsel give him time etc. but perversely now I'm reading it's only one game or we've won our competitive games etc.

You cannot have it both ways. judge over the whole piece. Confused tactics, often ill thought out leading to football which is formulaic and horrible to watch.

Everton have won 3 games, all 1-0 with only fleeting momemts of decent football. I should expect more.

Many hope it will just click, click?! I see no development in performances which is a better indicator and a continuation of disconcerting trends.

I always have a humble pie in the freezer, but see no reason to defrost the damn thing any time soon.

Absolute cack.

It is one who admits that that has some wisdom and admits something he tried didn't work.,"There is nothing worse than a manager who won't acknowledge when he has got it wrong"

Absolute cack.

It is one who admits that that has some wisdom and admits something he tried didn't work.,,,1,16:04:37,,66.249.93.91,ok,19546,08/13/2017 16:04:37,debyrne,reader,, 839220,35318,toffeeweb,13/08/2017,Ed Fitzgerald,edfitz@talk21.com,"Watched the game in the states on holiday at 7am with some crazy San Francisco-based blues who were a delight to be with and more entertaining than the game itself.

Watched the game with a friend who supports Man Utd who was anaesthetised and shocked by our negativity. It was as poor as last seasons game against Stoke, I can't see any progression whatsoever. Tactics and formation are fucking hopeless .

Watched the game with a friend who supports Man Utd who was anaesthetised and shocked by our negativity. It was as poor as last seasons game against Stoke, I can't see any progression whatsoever. Tactics and formation are fucking hopeless .

Rubbish. Koeman has repeatedly made the same errors in selection and formation in his tenure.

He aint backwards in coming forwards yet he is mute when it comes to being accountable for his errors.

His reason for changing the system yesterday? Nervous in possession!?

Utter rubbish. He got it wrong and acknowledging that would at least show that accountability I bamg on about.

Off to watch Rom be lazy, and slack and score a hat-trick. Chortle!

"I expected to get space on the right so put a winger there instead of Davies, Holgate or Cuco. That wasn't how it went but that wasn't Dominic's problem. That was my fault... I decided to change and we were much more comfortable".

Those two quotes don't seem consistent. But there is admission of fault in there.

And as I write, Lukaku does what...?!

Hope we find another goalscorer as 'shit' as him.

I agree we should give Martina a chance. However my view is based on having watched him live twice and not based on anything else. He is Championship standard. He is a natural right back though. He lost the ball more times than he found his pass. He isn't a good defender but gets up and down the line.

He also headed the ball back across our penalty box yesterday. Did you see that? What professional footballer doesn't know that you don't do that? I will support him while he plays in blue. But he isn't good enough, we already had better.Man City spent 𧴜 M on full backs this year... No target man. No pace up front. No creativity. No width.

Keane and Pickford are great additions, the rest of them... not so much. And I still can't get over what a complete fuck up that formation was. We play 3 at the back and have no width. 3 at the back and still only have 1 up front. Unbelievable

Absolutely the English could be an issue. But he is pretty wily, so it cuts both ways I guess.

I'm desperate to see us play some decent stuff. I think our recruitment has been decent, with a bit more to follow. We are comfortably better than most teams, so surely attacking more won't compromise that solidity since we 'dominate' the ball in most games?

The problem with that is Gana is not a real attacking threat. He doesn't possess a shot or can take a man on or particularly good passing. What he can do very well is break up play, make tackles and get the ball to a player who can do all those things that are not part of his game.

It just makes no sense to play them together. Pick one and let him do that job. Whoever partners him, whether it be Davies or Klaassen can provide support when needed. It just clogs the midfield without attacking outlets and continues to be far too defensive of an approach, especially when at home against the likes of Stoke.

According to the official Prem stats, Schneiderlin had the best all-around defensive game of any midfielder in the Prem yesterday -- four tackles, six interceptions, seven recoveries. He was all over the field shutting down attacks and winning balls. That's hardly "lifeless", as Dave #54 put it.

Yes, his passing has been very poor, but I think that's partly because he's bedding into a new deeper-lying position. Last season he often got to the top of the arc and made passes, but that area is now occupied by Rooney and Klaassen. Morgan hasn't found his role in attack yet. He's quality, he'll come good.

The question of both Schneids and Gana playing together and doing the same job is a really good one, and I don't think Koeman has an answer for that yet. It worked well last year when Schneids was 20 yards in front of Gana, but now he's beside or behind him, and it's not working.

Things could change soon enough if results go wrong and Everton do have some decent alternates waiting to jump in although I am sure Koeman doesn't want to leave anyone out especially his signings.

Macca, Barry and Besic are three experienced stand-bys with Holgate, Kenny and a fit Seamus ready to step in in the back four. Added to all this in midfield of course is Gylfi (if it ever happens).

I think overall the picture looks more promising than this time last year so fingers crossed.

And that my friend is the crux of the matter. He may be used as more of a box to box player, as in yesterday's match. Fine, we could put Jagielka in that position. Doesn't mean he'd be effective. Gana has so far not been able to control his shot at all, he's not a threat. And his passing has not been good enough in that role where there is much more pressure being applied to him, similar to what he does to the opposition. So yes, if only he could shoot, and make that decisive pass.

I looked back on the FourFourTwo stats for the last 6 games they were partnered together and in all of these Gana is placed ahead of Schneiderlin on the pitch. They place a player based on his touches in a game.

If you check this link Link and look up matches in which they played together, click on Team Stats. I have so far looked at Arsenal, Watford, Burnley, Hull, Leicester and West ham.

Dave (#78), my eyes saw the same thing as the stats did. I saw Schneiderlin all over the field, picking off passes and regaining lost possessions. I was starting to doubt my own eyes with all the negative reviews of his play, so I watched the game again this morning and saw it again... and then got support from the stats.

David (#77), no argument there. Gana might just be the best ball-winner in the world – I believe he was #1 in combined tackles and interceptions in all of Europe last season – but his great passes are rare and his shooting is flat zero. So we just have to appreciate what he does and hope other players pick up the slack for what he can't. Unfortunately Davies doesn't have much of a shot either. Hope Klaassen does. Would love to see a goal from 25 yards once in a while.

Burnley match SchneiderlinLink

Leicester match Schneiderlin Link

Mike, Could you direct me the site where you got yesterday's stats for Schneiderlin as the FourFourTwo site seems to have discontinued this feature.

Schneiderlin does such good work in retrieving the ball so hard to leave him out. I thought Gana was MotM yesterday for the same pressing, covering, tackling work, but as David says above, his passing range and shooting are ordinary. If they were of similar quality to his game when we don't have the ball, I expect he would be playing for a team who would give him a greater challenge (challenge is apparently a slang word for pay packet in the football world).

He was brought to replace Barry is that not correct? Unfortunately he will never reach Barry's best level but he will get better than he was yesterday and all pre-season.

To suggest this is a new position for him is absolute nuts.

Although that can change and its early days as we often hear, all I see so far is that one speed tempo and nothing dynamic enough to beat a top side often enough to get champions league. Comparing to Stoke last season isn't the answer but I do get where your coming from. Man Utd v West Ham today will have been far different from last season and they have built well and early.

We are still waiting to replace the most important man we lost and our run of fixtures are up there with the toughest of starts. Is that doing things the right way (that's the new trendy one) I'm not sure it is?

After getting out of the gate early with some excellent signings, and the foreknowledge that Lukaku was going to leave, I am disappointed we have not been able to replace our main offensive weapon from last season with anyone. It feels like we were waiting for Arsenal to drop a striker that we could pick up on the cheap. And now what? We still need more offensive pieces to crack the top 6, methinks.

Not the answer to the question above but I would like to see Everton make a run at Van Dijk. If we cannot score goals, let's have two top young centre-backs and a goalkeeper making it hard for opposing teams to score.

Here's the one you requested from me, the official EPL stats page: https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players

It is criminal that a replacement for Lukaku hasn't been sourced yet. We are going to be totally overrun by any reasonable team. Get your finger out blues coz things look bleak.

The stats were deffo misleading on this occasion re Schneiderlin. The worst game I have seen him play in an Everton shirt.

Klaassen really was instrumental in it. If he hadn't taken that big defender with him Rooney would have had a much tougher job. You can see from Klaassen's reaction he knew exactly what he was doing.

That gives my a feeling this guy will become just the kind of thinking player we need.

The issues of the lopsided first half formation and the negative selection of too many defensive players against a very poor Stoke team are of Koeman's making. Acknowledging the mistake he made and changing the system at half time is all well and good but I don't understand why is he experimenting with systems and trying to shoehorn square pegs in round holes in the first game of the season as this is what pre-season is for, to work out your best system and best starting 11.

From what I can see so far this season Koeman in the 3 competitive games played so far only seems to me to want to pick players for the starting eleven that have been purchased during his tenure even if they are not in good form or the right player for a particular position/formation.