We rate every Everton player’s performance from the 1-2 loss versus Lyon at Goodison Park, which severely damages their hopes of progressing in the Europa League.
Oh dear; that didn’t go exactly as planned for Ronald Koeman and Everton. The most important period of the Dutchman’s reign went from bad to worse, as the Blues lost 2-1 to Lyon.
With the defeat, Everton’s chances of progressing from the Europa League group stage took a significant blow. They now find themselves four points behind Lyon and six behind first-place Atlanta in Group E, with three games remaining.
Perhaps most telling of all, Everton have now made the worst start ever by an English club at the group stage of the Europa League. As reported by BBC Sport, Koeman appreciates the buck stops with him:
"“If the team is not winning and not performing but maybe they can, then it is always the manager,” said Koeman. “The final decision is by the board not myself. If the board thinks I am not the right man they will tell me.”"
From our perspective, we’ve always had faith Koeman would get the Blues back on track. However, now even we are beginning to wonder if he is living on borrowed time.
While not being prepared to criticise the 54-year-old’s managerial skills per se, it’s clear something is wrong. For whatever reason, he seems incapable of motivating a squad which — no matter what people may claim — is not as bad as their league position and recent results suggest.
Actually, while we’re on the subject of the squad, Koeman made some interesting selections, as he attempted to find a way to get the team to perform. In theory, he shouldn’t be blamed for trying to mix it up.
However, you know he will be, especially when considering the outcome. In that respect, let’s get to our player ratings: