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Everton rebuilding job?
- Updated: December 30, 2016
Everton’s 2-2 draw at Hull showed why manager Ronald Koeman has a big job on his hands with this ageing squad…
Everton are seventh in the Premier League and that is exactly where the bookmakers fancied them to finish before a ball was kicked this season. But it’s not the table that will be worrying Everton supporters. It’s the rebuilding job that the new manager has ahead of him.
He has the air of a man who knows it too. “I just have that feeling when you listen to Ronald Koeman or even look at him on the touchline, sometimes you see it with managers where they don’t quite like their own team,” Gary Neville told Sky Sports. “He’s got that look.”
Koeman has switched between formations since taking over in the summer, using a back three as well as the back four with which Everton are familiar, as he attempts to instill new ideas and searches for greater flexibility. But with an ageing squad, that can be a problem.
“I have to say, knowing three or four of the Everton players, they have strong characters and I’m sure they won’t be comfortable changing systems,” added Neville on co-commentary during the Friday night draw at Hull. “They have played in a certain way for so long.
“Ronald Koeman is obviously trying to change the mentality. He’s trying to change the culture of the club, he’s trying to change the personnel and systems. It’s not easy when …