Ronald Koeman issues warning to Everton forwards

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The Toffees currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, having scored 13 goals from their opening nine games.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has told the Liverpool Echo that the club’s misfiring forwards must start scoring goals swiftly, otherwise he will be forced to seek replacements during the January transfer window.

The Toffees, who currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, have enjoyed an auspicious start to life under the former Southampton manager.

However, their lofty league standing could be even higher had the side’s faltering forwards not failed to squander a host of glaring opportunities in recent weeks.

Everton went down to a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat at Burnley during their last league outing, with Koeman’s side somehow failing to convert their utter dominance into victory by scoring just one of their staggering 20 attempts on Clarets stopper Tom Heaton’s net.

Romelu Lukaku is the club’s current top goalscorer with six goals to his name so far this campaign. However, worryingly for Koeman, the Belgian powerhouse is followed in the goalscoring charts by veteran midfielder Gareth Barry, a player who is hardly renowned for his prowess in the opposition area.

Everton’s lack of cutting edge has become a growing concern for Koeman, and the Toffees boss told the Liverpool Echo that his forwards need to become more clinical in front of goal if they are to keep their place in his starting XI.

“It is always important to have scoring players in your squad and I believe we have good players in that position,” Koeman said.

“But they need to be more clinical and give more productivity to the team.

“Or if it does not happen then maybe you need to look for someone else.

“I believe in the quality of the players but if you watch the Burnley game we had 20 shots in total and we had some good chances in the box and the offensive players need to improve and do a lot of movement.

“We do a lot of finishing exercises but we need to be more clinical. To transfer that from the training pitch to the pitch is difficult.”

Last weekend’s defeat at Turf Moor was just Everton’s second loss of the season, and Koeman will be eager for his side to show that the shock result was merely a bump in the road when they return to action against Slaven Billic’s resurgent West Ham side at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.