Each transfer window, Everton are 'linked' with lots of fabulous names, but when we clear away all the smoke and mirrors, and the absolute lies served to us by the press, our transfer policy resembles that of a selling club, who are quick to sell their best players, in order to finance the rest of the squad.
It can be argued our biggest assets at the time of Koeman, and indeed, Moshiri's arrival, was Ross Barkley, John Stones, Romelu Lukaku, and potentially Gerard Deulofeu, and we know how that turned out for all parties.
We then set about sugar coating our inbound transfers, convincing ourselves that we are signing fabulous players, but isn't it true that what we are doing, is building a squad on stand out players that are from relegated or struggling clubs, players who can't get a game at their parent club, or young promising players with potential, who more often than not provide the next big transfer out, in years to come, in order to replenish funds?
For a club in Everton's 'recent' position, this is a perfectly reasonable strategy, and one that has kept us in the safer half of the table for some time. However, if this is the strategy Everton are using while under the financial backing of Farhad Moshiri, and it appears it is, are fans expecting too much, by having ambition of a top 4 place, or better?
Compare our players, manager, and spending power to that of Chelsea, or Man City to put things in perspective.
I agree with Ronald Koeman 100% when he plays down our top 4 expectancy.
Have Everton overpaid for many of our signings because of Moshiri's wealth, in turn raising expectancy from fans?
On the final day of the transfer window, there wasn't any news of a possible new striker, yet Everton attempted to sell both Ross Barkley, and Oumar Niasse, which had they done so, would have 'almost' balanced our books, and I'm not at all interested in a debate about amortisation, as every business has amortisation costs, but just the business on the field.
Selling Romelu Lukaku to our nearest top 6 rival was a huge risk, as it guaranteed Man Utd would be stronger, but it was also a sale the club couldn't refuse, given the high price, and our squad needs, as despite Moshiri, we seemingly aren't in a position to keep Lukaku, a player who wanted to leave, and 'still' buy enough quality players to mount an attack on the title, so we consolidated, and spread the money out across the squad.
Since Koeman arrived, he's spent well over £60m on our defenders and Keepers alone, less sales, which with add ons will surely rise to over £70m, with 2 Keepers, 2 Central defenders, & a free Right Back, (yes, he gets paid) yet already this season we've conceded 12 league goals in 7 matches, and 6 Europa League goals in 6 legs.
We can argue that we've encountered a very difficult set of fixtures, but many of our conceded goals have come from defensive frailties, and bear in mind Pickford saved a penalty in one game.
It's also worth noting that we've played at least 4 different players at Right Back, and still there is uncertainty as to who will start, so how does our defence get experience of playing together? Given Ronald Koeman is a defender himself, you'd expect him to get his defenders working very well indeed, and he may still do that, but he publicly stated he wanted another defender, yet one didn't arrive, nor, did any competition for Leighton Baines, who despite not making too many headlines for the wrong reasons, has not been making too many for the right reasons either for quite a long time now, yet appears to have a nailed on start every week.
Let's take an 'honest' look at our squad, and say it like it is, rather than have one eye over our shoulders trying to be polite and diplomatic:
KeepersJordan Pickford - signed from relegated Sunderland
Joel Robles - signed from relegated Wigan Athletic as a back up to Tim Howard
Maarten Stekelenburg - signed from relegated Fulham & couldn't get a game
DefendersCuco Martina - a free agent released by Southampton
Michael Keane - signed from Burnley, who escaped relegation by 1 place on goal difference
Ashley Williams - an ageing defender signed from Premier League strugglers Swansea City
Phil Jagielka - an ageing defender long past his best days
Ramiro Funes Mori - signed from South American team River Plate
Seamus Coleman - a defender bought for £60k from Sligo Rovers
Leighton Baines - an ageing Left Back long past his best days
Mason Holgate - 20 year old from Barnsley
Jonjoe Kenny - 20 year old academy
Funes Mori is our most decorated defender by far, given River Plate are Argentina's top side, and he has international experience with some of the world's top players, yet fans are highly critical of him. Williams has won a League Cup, and Keane won the Championship with Burnley. There's no other winning experience in our defenders at top level, although Kenny has just won the PL2 and the u20 World Cup, so credit to him.
Of our Keepers, Robles won the FA Cup with Wigan, and also the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup with Atlético Madrid, although what part he played I'm unsure. Stekelenburg won Eredivisie twice, and a string of Dutch cups, so has a bit of experience. Pickford is obviously the least experienced Keeper, but has been bought based upon potential, and suffered a relegation with Sunderland keeping just 4 clean sheets.
NOTE - All 3 of our keepers have experienced relegation from the Premier LeagueMidfieldJames McCarthy - signed from relegated Wigan Athletic
Idrissa Gueye - signed from relegated Aston Villa
Muhamed Besic - a defender who caught the eye in a World Cup game playing in midfield
Aaron Lennon - an ageing midfielder who couldn't get a game for Spurs
Yannick Bolasie - signed from recently promoted Crystal Palace
Ross Barkley - academy player
Morgan Schneiderlin - A Southampton player under Koeman who couldn't get a game at Man Utd
Davy Klaassen - signed from Ajax making the step up from Eredivisie to the Prem
Gylfi Sigurdsson - signed from Premier League strugglers Swansea City
Nikola Vlasic - 19 year old signed from Hajduk Split apparently after impressing in a match against us
Tom Davies - 19 year old academy player
We're not exactly full to the brim in terms of 'winning experience' in midfield either are we, let's be blunt? Since Koeman arrived, he's added over £130m worth of signings to our midfield, less sales, but did we go to a Turkish market stall and not haggle?
McCarthy (also relegated with Wigan) has been around a long time, & has an FA Cup medal to his name, and a Scottish 1st Division title from his teens.
Gueye (relegated with Aston Villa) has a Ligue 1 winners medal with Lille, 7 years ago. Muhamed Besic has a Hungarian League Cup, and strictly speaking is a Defender, not a Midfielder, but that's another story.
Lennon too has a League Cup, and Schneiderlin an FA Cup complete with Charity Shield with Man Utd, but we know these were players who were sitting it out at their respective clubs, as opposed to being an integral part of their team. We do like to sign players who couldn't get a game in the teams of the clubs we're trying to be better than.
Sigurdsson is a player who has no trophies to his name either, but clearly attracted Koeman, with his good assist rate, yet this was the player to take corners, freekicks, and penalties at Swansea, so of course he had a good assist rate. A dead ball specialist to be blunt, but in a squad that has dead ball specialists, from Baines, to Rooney, to Mirallas etc, was it good use of transfer funds, given we'd already signed Klaassen, still had Barkley, and Rooney, not to mention the likes of Kieran Dowell knocking on the door.
Step in Davy Klaassen, 3 times Eredivisie winner (that's a league in Holland) with Holland's best team, Ajax, and great news, he was captain - and so was Rooney, and so was Williams, and so was Lookman even, but hey, we gave our captaincy to Baines, because ............??
So in summary, we don't have anybody in our entire defence, or midfield, who has won anything at top level, or at Premier League level.
AttackDominic Calvert-Lewin - 20 year old signed from Sheffield United
Ademola Lookman - 19 year old signed from Charlton Athletic
Sandro Ramirez - 22 year old signed from Malaga
Wayne Rooney - re-signed from Man Utd at the end of career
Kevin Mirallas - signed from Olympiacos
Oumar Niasse - rejected by current manager for a full season
Did I mention Rooney wasn't captain?
This is a player who has broken footballing records, captained England, captained one of the biggest football clubs in the world in Man United, and won countless trophies and accolades in just about everything you can think of, yet Leighton Baines is our f*cking captain, because he's 'nice', as that is the only reason I can think of to justify it. Did I also mention Rooney couldn't get a game in his last club, and has a bit of a wild side away from the club.
No, we didn't replace Romelu Lukaku, but the 4 goals Mirallas scores each year will contribute (he also won the Greece Super League - that's a league in Greece - twice) if he plays .... and that's a big if, as he joins a growing list of players who fancy a change of scenery.
But wait, we've 2 more u20 World Cup winners, and both Lewin and Lookman look damn tasty too, but they're not Lukaku, nor is Sandro Ramirez, who comes to us having had a great season in Spain last year, and probably came on the basis Lukaku was leaving, but he's not Lukaku either, which leaves the wonderful Oumar Niasse; a player banished to the u23's last season, then shipped off to Hull, and almost sold to Palace (boy do they wish they'd signed him now).
Niasse has actually won the Premier League ... but before you celebrate, it was the Senegal version, so doesn't count, as much as I want him to smash all footballing records this season.
So when we consider that Calvert-Lewin, Lookman, and Ramirez are all young players, that strictly speaking, have been thrown into the deep end here at Everton, and Niasse was unwanted, Mirallas wants to leave, and Rooney is at the end of his career, how can we sell one of the world's top strikers to our rivals, and expect to score goals?
In short then, our whole squad, as much as we love them, has very little experience, yet in order for us to progress, and do better than we did last year, we must finish above teams that are mostly
full of winners, and experienced players; teams who mostly have successful managers at the top level; teams who despite Moshiri, can buy and sell us in the transfer market, and in the promotional & commercial market too.
Everton, after 7 league games, have just 4 goals, scored by 2 players. One of those players was relegated to the bench on Sunday, the other relegated to the u23's for most of last season. NOT A SINGLE other player has scored a league goal, and we tried to sell Niasse.
Koeman told Moshiri he needed to replace Lukaku, and as a result of not doing so, our team are struggling, and Koeman is under pressure to find the right formula to score goals.
Koeman told Moshiri he needed to find a Left sided defender, and as a result of not doing so, our team are struggling, and Koeman is under pressure to find the right formula to defend goals.
I'd like to hear from Moshiri why he didn't get the players the manager asked for.
But that I'm afraid, is Koeman's job, and as I sit here writing, in my free time, unpaid for my efforts, Koeman no doubt earned enough to feed my family for the coming 3 years, so forgive me if I'm a little blunt with him:
Team selection is a concernWithout wanting to sound arrogant, if Everton aren't scoring goals, and at the same time, are conceding 'a lot' of goals, the first place to look for problems is in the midfield. At first that might sound odd, but it's the midfield who create play for the forward players, and it's the midfield who protect the defenders.
Most weeks we start out with Idrissa Gueye and Morgan Schneiderlin, who while strong in defence, are not so strong going forward, yet these 2 players are responsible for the majority of Everton possession.
If Gylfi or anybody else isn't match fit, should they be playing in the first team, or with the u23's, as we've players such as Lookman, Lennon, Vlasic, Mirallas, & Sandro, who all have a bit of pace, but instead of starting, these players are mostly used as late subs, although Vlasic and Sandro have started. It comes across like Koeman bought Klaassen and Sigurdsson expecting to have a target man up front, so how to utilise both players, I'm not sure, but Klaassen and Davies 'could' be an option to playing both Gana and Schneiderlin, even if we sat one behind.
I'd stick with both Niasse and Lewin, as both are quick, but instead of Rooney and Sigurdsson, I'd look at injecting some more pace and width, as we're a bit slow, and easy to defend against.
Our defenders have a problem seeing opposing players in front of them, so maybe explain to them when clearing the ball that balls must go around them, or above them, but not through them, as our defenders are making silly mistakes trying to play the ball out.
This is for Koeman to figure out, as it's his team, and I don't want to hear about how hard it is to play against Burnley or Bournemouth, as though they're Man City.
Come January, maybe a bit of business to be done, but a few winners coming in to the team might be useful, as we don't appear to know how to win, and if we get a striker, let's not get one at the end of his career who can't get a place in his current side.