Friday 22 September 2017

What's up with Everton?

Everton splashed the cash this summer in an attempt to compete for a top six place, but things have not gone to plan so far for Ronald Koeman who has looked far from happy at the slow start the Merseysiders have made. At Goodison you would expect Everton to be taking the majority of points on offer, and they have picked up three points up against Stoke City there. It was the heavy 0-3 defeat to Spurs in early September that hurt them.
Can Goodison be a happy hunting ground for the Cherries?
Since then Everton have found it a challenge to score but they did put three past Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, and they should be more confident about home fixtures again. Considering that they have also played Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd it's easy to see why the points have been a bit slow in accumulating for Koeman. He'll be less impressed if Bournemouth take any points off them, a side that has managed to beat them just once in the last two seasons.

Everton have good players and will be one of the best sides that Bournemouth have come up against so far on an away ground. I'd suspect their problem is trying to integrate so many new signings into a team that works together rather than as a group of individuals, but they do have leaders in Wayne Rooney, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and Leighton Baines. When they get organised they will improve quickly and we'll have to hope they are not yet at that point when the Cherries visit.

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The loss of Romelo Lukaku cannot be over exaggerated. He was the main goalscorer and while Gylfi Sigurdsson will score double figures along with Rooney, Davy Klaassen is new to the Premier League and it may be asking too much for him to soon to rack up the goals. Sandro Ramirez also has much to get to grips with in joining an Everton side that is used to getting results at home, and in wearing the number nine shirt he will soon learn from the Goodison crowd if he is not good enough. Patience is what Koeman needs, but he doesn't have that luxury when Everton sit just one point above the Cherries after five games and what is of real concern is the lack of goals - just two in league matches.

What Koeman will need is for the Everton fans to stick with the team, but if they find the going hard against Bournemouth the frustrations of previous weeks could start coming out. Bournemouth are starting to get their game together and it will be a good barometer of how much work Eddie Howe has managed to get done with his side since the early defeats, because the Cherries will need a performance to get anything at Goodison.

Everton's Home form
WL

AFCB's Away Form
LL

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