During all my time as an Everton fan, the two main praises I hear from other fans have been: great academy, and an amazing ground. Goodison has been fairly subdued over the previous 2 seasons, but as the Old Lady finally faces retirement, it is apparent she has awoken.
Managers have a lot of influence on home form and atmosphere. David Moyes was a feisty guy, and following suit he turned Goodison into a gladiatorial arena, back when tackles were much heavier, teams came to Goodison knowing that win or lose, they would not leave unscathed.
Martinez’s style of football required a lot of patience, and despite utilising a possession based style of football, we hardly ever pressed. This went against the club’s culture, and rightfully so, the ferocity teams used to face when visiting Everton was no more.
Under Koeman however, the energy is high and the pressing is effective. Schneiderlin and Gana would be welcome at most teams in the world, but they are especially welcome in the blue half of Merseyside. They grind the opposition down until we win the ball back, a blend of relentless hounding and heavy tackles often lift the home crowd to it’s feet.
During Koeman’s tenure there has been a resurgence of our style, it’s exciting and effective, in return for putting on a show, the home crowd has provided the players with a fortified lion’s den, that even league leaders Chelsea will be cautious of coming to.
Our home form has been scorching hot, so hot in fact, that young Lukaku can potentially break a Dixie Dean record should he score against Chelsea, by scoring in 10 consecutive home games. Our home form is literally legendary right now, and Koeman should take a bow. Confidence is through the roof (which is the Sky because Goodison has no roof), what a send off for Goodison if Lukaku could break the record in one of her last ever seasons.
Up the Ev.