After Ronald Koeman’s first Premier League win as Everton manager against West Bromwich Albion, we take a look at five things we learned from both sides.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman before the match
Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas cancelled out Gareth McAuley’s opener as Everton beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at The Hawthorns in the Premier League at the weekend. The victory was Ronald Koeman’s first win and saw Romelu Lukaku and new record signing Yannick Bolasie on the bench.
We take a look at the five big talking points from Everton’s first Premier League win.
1. Koeman has plenty to smile about
Koeman looked on as his Everton side notched up their first win of the Premier League season after last week’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. With both Mirallas and Barry on the score sheet, it gave the Dutchman plenty of reason to be pleased with the performance. But outside of the overall team performance, Koeman will have been overjoyed to see new signing Bolasie get off to such a good start after putting in a impressive performance, coming on as a 61st minute substitute for Gerard Deulofeu.
More importantly, Koeman’s smile will have started way before kick-off, after being given the news that Romelu Lukaku is staying for at least another year, as reported by the Guardian. Koeman said: “I can confirm Romelu is staying with the club. He spoke to me yesterday morning and told me he had made the decision by himself to stay at least one more season at Everton. It’s great news for everyone and it’s possible he may sign a new contract.”
2. Mason Holgate is the future
For the second game running, Everton’s defender put in a show-stealing performance. Holgate was so good he even ran Mirallas close for the Man of the Match award, something pretty special for a 19-year-old with limited Premier League experience. Holgate was convincing and was even involved in Everton’s winning goal, and caused West Brom all kinds of problems throughout the second half. Based on this performance alone it would be hard not to find a place for him in the starting line-up for Everton’s next Premier League game against Stoke City.
Everton’s Mason Holgate has shot blocked by West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Yacob
3. Lack of creativity is stifling WBA
Tony Pulis’ side are lacking something going forward, and creatively they offered very little that troubled Everton. While West Brom are dangerous from set pieces, they lack pace when attacking teams and the next 10 days will be key to their Premier League survival.
Starting with Matt Phillips, Claudio Yacob, Darren Fletcher and Craig Gardener in midfield, Pulis’ side looked to be seriously lacking any pace or creativity, meaning both Salomon Rondon and Saido Berahino were isolated and lacking support. Pulis will need to enter the transfer market quickly if West Brom are to avoid mid-table obscurity, because based on this display, they just don’t have the pace or creative spark to trouble too many teams.
4. Defenders are key to Pulis’ game plan
Defenders have always been a key part of Pulis’ gameplan no matter what club he has managed, and things are no different at West Brom. In the 57 previous Premier League matches in charge of the club, he has kept 22 clean sheets, but that is just the defensive side of what he expects from his players. Aside from their defensive duties, he expects players to perform well at set pieces and his defenders to chip in with their fair share of goals.
Against Everton this was apparent as Gareth McAuley gave West Brom the lead from a corner in the ninth minute. The 36-year-old headed a relatively easy goal from Craig Gardener’s in-swinging corner, after McAuley lost Phil Jagielka in the penalty area. This defensive gameplan of using defenders to cause maximum problems from set pieces is part of what you get with Pulis, and whether you agree with it or not it’s effective and will cause no end of problems for Premier League defenders.
West Bromwich Albion’s Gareth McAuley scores their first goal
5. Romelu Lukaku looked sparkling
Everton started the game as they did against Spurs with a 3-4-3 system, but after going a goal behind, Koeman promptly switched to a 4-2-3-1 and brought Lukaku on for James McCarthy after 35 minutes. The change worked before half-time as Lukaku gave the away side more balance, and held the ball up well, before Mirallas pulled Everton level.
But as good as Lukaku was, he looked even better after the introduction of Bolasie on 61 minutes. The two throughout the latter part of the second half were combining well and Lukaku should have buried the chance created for him by Bolasie late on when he shot over from close range.
Everton’s Gareth Barry celebrates scoring their second goal with Romelu Lukaku
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