Everton FC : Three hopes, one fear

Hope #3: That Koeman can resuscitate Gerard Deulofeu’s career.

There were many players whose play regressed under the Martinez regime. But there was perhaps no greater casualty than that of Gerard Deulofeu. Deulofeu first came to Goodison in 2013 with some experience with FC Barcelona’s B side and high some pretty high expectations. But while during his two terms with Everton (he came to the club on loan in 2014 and signed a permanent deal with the club in 2015) his form has dropped and the number of negative moments have outweighed the positives.

The chief reason for his drop in play seems to have been Martinez’s peculiar strategies. Under Martinez, Deulofeu seemed to be muzzled on the outside, relegated to serving as a decoy and small simple passes. While that might work for teams it never really matched the strengths of the Everton players.

That being said Deulofeu also seemed disinterested. Especially last season it seemed as if the effort was not there every match. Passes were often short and crosses were either off target or easily blocked by defenders. Perhaps the lack of effort is because of playing in a system that did not work for him. No matter the reason it did not make him look good and damaged his reputation a bit at Goodison.

Koeman acknowledged the problems that Deulofeu is facing telling the media after Everton’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham, ” You see with Gerard, it is still not for 90 minutes. It’s all about the work rate of the player. Sometimes it’s difficult because for that creative player, sometimes you’re a little bit more sloppy in that aspect of football.”

When asked about Deulofeu missing a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the second half Koeman was a bit more succinct saying, “He needs to score. With those kind of chances, you have to.”

If Deulofeu is to realize his full potential it will be under Koeman. Koeman’s coaching C/V is littered with stays at some of the top attacking clubs in the world (Ajax, PSV, Valencia, Feyernoord, and Benfica). Furthermore, he has built up the reputation as being someone who can rebuild the careers of attackers. Look no further than his work at Southampton last season with Shane Long as proof that he can get the most out of his players.

Deulofeu has all of the tools to become one of the top attacking midfielders in the Premier League. Under Koeman he may just put it together.

Next: The big fear: That they do not have a replacement for Romelu Lukaku