All of this is to say that Harry Kane could start on the bench against Crystal Palace. While many of their rivals trigger revolution, he firmly believes his club are right to settle for evolution.
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One of Koeman’s main priorities this summer was finding a replacement for Tim Howard, who returned to the U.S., and the Everton boss moved quickly to sign goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, a player he knows well, from Fulham.
“It is hard not to think about it”.
Villa slipped out of the Premier League last season with a pitiful 17 points and the Senegal global had featured in 35 of those games, his appearance at Everton in November’s 4-0 defeat even seeing him suffer the indignity of being substituted at half-time.
‘But football is going to be highs and lows throughout your career and it is how you deal with that which makes you the player you are.
“I’m probably still not 100 percent”.
When it all came together for Tottenham last season, they were the best team in the country-certainly the most thrilling to watch-with their intensity and fluid movement.
By the end of the game, in which Everton started brightly and Gerard Deulofeu missed a golden chance in first-half injury time to add to Ross Barkley’s opener, Everton were hanging on grimly with the substitute Arouna Koné up front and their goal threat all but gone. It is the first game of the season and there is a long way to go. And yet, it’s better than losing. We had good team organisation, we put a lot of energy in, and we were very risky up front.
“We were a bit slow to join the attack and we were losing the second balls”.
“I think the team was ready, and we showed a lack of energy”. “There are a lot of clubs who have bought a lot of players and felt like they needed to strengthen their squad. We have been through it together and learned from that experience together”.
Imagine an even better Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela.
“We need to analyse what happened but in the end it is the first game of the season and there are a lot of things to do. It is something we have got to learn from”.
“We know it would be hard towards the end because they have really good players, scoring players”. You suspect that if Koeman had another two – and a couple of more signings – behind him, Everton might have won this game; as it was, despite missing key players, they preserved a valuable point against a team that finished third last season and was at full strength. “Hopefully we can do that”.
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If not, Spurs can still manage though it will be hard.
