Ronald Koeman’s close shave shows he is not deaf to Goodison Park gripes

It is part of Ronald Koeman’s routine to tweet before and after a match but he does not dwell on the reactions among his 1.16m followers. “I don’t read the comments of fans, no,” the Everton manager claimed. “I want a quiet life.” He is in the wrong place in that case. Against Arsenal on Sunday opinions from inside Goodison Park may not be easily ignored.

Just when Everton thought their problems were confined to Koeman’s overpriced, underperforming team a knuckle-dragger emerges from the Gwladys Street stand, child in arm, to aim a blow at Lyon’s goalkeeper, Anthony Lopes. His actions have prompted a police investigation, a ban from the club and disciplinary action by Uefa, yet could not distract totally from another severe setback for the Everton manager on Thursday.

Lyon was a must-win for Everton’s Europa League prospects, Koeman said beforehand. A 2-1 defeat ensured they go into the Arsenal game having won twice in 12 matches, lost six of the past 10 and with their £6m-a-year coach under intense pressure – if not from the board, then from an increasingly disillusioned fanbase.

“I am still the man and we will fight for everything to turn it around,” said Koeman, who has followed recent Twitter advice and shaved before Arsenal’s visit. “Now I am 10 years younger after a shave,” he quipped. “But no, seriously, it is normal it has an impact if the team is not doing well; then it always comes in the direction of the manager. If you don’t like it, then take another job.”

Koeman is clinging to the positive that Everton displayed fighting spirit against Lyon – not a reference to the pitchside mêlée sparked by Ashley Williams. As for quality, however, something that might be expected following a summer outlay of almost £140m, that was mentioned only in terms of its absence. “I can’t complain about the attitude or workrate of the players,” Koeman said. “But I can about several situations in the game, about cleverness, about quality and about decision-making. But not about how they fight, how they try and what they give on the pitch.”

He says that, with the exception of the £30m goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and Wayne Rooney, none of the club’s summer signings has fulfilled expectations “at the moment but the future will tell everyone that the signings we did were really good signings”.

He elaborated: “You need time to adapt. That’s the situation for Davy Klaassen and the situation for Sandro Ramírez. Yes, Pickford is showing why we signed him as maybe a future No1 for England. Michael Keane is performing well sometimes, like the first half against Lyon, but the second half was not good. He made mistakes in the buildup. [Gylfi] Sigurdsson showed in 20-25 minutes yesterday why we signed him with an assist and was close to making a second goal. He will show that quality. Wayne Rooney is not a player for me who brings any doubts. He is a quality player but of course the situation is difficult. For Davy Klaassen it is a lack of confidence. You can see that in his decision-making on the pitch and about his aggression. I expect him to be more aggressive but with many doubts in his head it is difficult to play football.”

A home win over Arsenal was a turning point for Everton last season although last season they had Romelu Lukaku. Despite being aware of Lukaku’s intention to leave in the spring and heavy investment in the summer, Everton are now reliant on the inexperienced Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the once-ostracised Oumar Niasse and the £5.2m summer recruit Ramírez to lead the line. The boardroom’s support for Koeman perhaps stems from a recognition the manager is not solely to blame for the gaping hole in his team.

“We know that we don’t have that striker in what we expected and that makes it more difficult,” said Koeman, who will have regrets when he sees Olivier Giroud, a striker he wanted, in the Arsenal ranks on Sunday. “It is not straight and honest to expect Dominic to be that already. He will grow and is improving and nobody else of that age is playing as often in the Premier League and in a difficult position. We had someone who scored 25 goals last season and that is a big miss. It is not easy to find something that is better than it was. And that’s normal.

“On the football side Steve Walsh [the director of football] and I were working on getting a good one in. We didn’t get anyone in who was better than the players we had and then there was the cost of several players who were not the first options. Finally we decided not to sign. We knew we had some new players in. We needed time. What is the best formation? What is the best striker with Wayne, Sigurdsson, Klaassen? We struggled at the beginning to get the right formation and that makes it even difficult. Then not good results and that brings us back to the lack of confidence.” And avoiding Twitter.