When Ronald Koeman came to Everton, he had a big task on his hands. Morale was low, Everton were underperforming and fans were turning against their club. So, 10 games in, has he made any progress? The short answer is yes.

A Blistering Start

After a competent 1-1 draw against Tottenham, Everton won 5 consecutive games in all competitions. After last season, Everton fans couldn’t wish for a better start. In the Premier League, Everton earned 13 out of a possible 15 points, which (taking goal difference and goals scored into consideration) was their 5th best ever league start (adjusted to 3 points for a win). Also, the club’s 4 league wins showed promise for the future. Before this season, Everton won at least 4 of their opening 5 league games 10 times, eventually finishing in the top 2 seven times. The previous couple of seasons were already looking likely to be eradicated from Everton fans’ minds. And Koeman had seemingly already transformed the team.

A Slight Dip in Form

Following the League Cup defeat to lower-league Norwich, a defeat to Bournemouth and a draw against Crystal Palace, fans were unhappy with the club’s performances in those games. Some fans were turning against their own players again, and Koeman as well, in spite of a great start to the season.

It is inevitable that a dip in form would take place some time during the season. Ronald Koeman, his brother Erwin and Jan Kluitenberg amongst others had just joined the club, so Everton cannot be expected to be world-beaters overnight.

Because of that dip in form, before the game against Manchester City, fans were worried about how Everton would fare against greater opposition. Evidently, those fans weren’t aware that Ronald Koeman was in charge of a Southampton side that beat Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United the previous season. Nowadays, beating those five teams in a single season is incredibly difficult. Take into consideration as well that Everton earned a point against last season’s title contenders Tottenham when the players were “70% fit”. So Koeman knows how to play against the big teams. And he showed it again after Everton drew to Manchester City 1-1, despite Everton having only 28% possession. He relied on his defence and Stekelenburg and they made him and the fans proud.

The Defence

Last season, Everton’s defence was atrocious. They had lost 20 points from winning positions and conceded 55 goals, 22 of them in the final 30 minutes of the game. It was evident that poor defending and tactics played a massive contribution to Everton’s downfall. But then along came Koeman.

In the Premier League so far, Everton have conceded 6 goals, and the club hasn’t conceded more than one goal in a game. The defence is already showing phenomenal progress. One weakness, however, is aerial defending. 4 of the 6 goals Everton have conceded in the Premier League this season have come from header. In fact, Everton have lost 6 points from winning positions so far this season, all because of conceding headed goals. Since the start of last season, Everton have conceded more headed goals than any other team in the Premier League – a very high 18 goals. So this is a problem Ronald Koeman has to sort out sooner rather than later.

That being said, aerial defending is the Everton defence’s only weakness. One statistical quirk is that Everton have yet to conceded a single goal from a kicked shot inside the area in the Premier League. Overall, they have conceded only one kicked goal in the 8 games in the Premier League so far. So, when the ball is on the ground, Everton’s defence is almost impenetrable.

The stats show that Everton have become more aggressive this season. Last season, they have been a bit soft. In fact, last season, they attempted the second-fewest amount of tackles in the Premier League. So, some aggression was badly needed and, so far, it has paid dividends. Also, Everton have made just one defensive error all season. At this stage last season, they made 7 defensive errors.

The Signings

Paul Pogba cost over £90 million. N’Golo Kante cost £30 million. Idrissa Gueye? A measly £7 million. Who has had the better season? Gueye by an absolute lightyear.

So far, Idrissa Gueye has won 43 tackles in the league this season. No player in the top 5 European leagues has won more. The only other player who won as many is Nantes defender Lucas Lima. And Lima played one game more than Gueye! Idrissa Gueye has been everywhere, as shown by his touch maps below.

Ashley Williams has made a bit of an impact, too. His experience, leadership skills and strong defending helped Everton improve their backbone and made him more than just a John Stones replacement. He made 54 clearances (joint-10th highest in the Premier League), and his partnership with Phil Jagielka has become one of the most defensively solid partnerships in the Premier League.

Yannick Bolasie, so far, is a question mark. He has 3 assists to his name (all for goals scored by Romelu Lukaku), however that didn’t stop fans questioning his ability. In the past two games, Yannick Bolasie made 14 crosses, but only one has been successful. In total, only 11 out of 46 crosses have been successful. After Everton paid around £25 million for the winger, one would expect him to be a better crosser.

When Maarten Stekelenburg signed for Everton, fans thought he was going to be the number-two goalkeeper. However, apart from a youngster from Oldham, Everton didn’t sign another goalkeeper. Fans were wary about Stekelenburg, in spite of his experience. He had a bit of a quiet start. However, his own goal didn’t help if he wanted to silence his critics (although, in Stekelenburg’s defence, he was fouled). He did silence his critics in the end by performing a goalkeeping masterclass against Manchester City. He saved two penalties (only the second time ever an Everton goalkeeper saved two penalties in the same game) and two goalbound fingertip saves helped Everton earn a brilliant point. That performance will undoubtedly boost his confidence.

Deadline Day signing Enner Valencia has yet to make much of an impact yet. However, given how well Romelu Lukaku is doing, it is unlikely that he will do.

The Resurgence of Romelu Lukaku

Before this season, Romelu Lukaku had a poor 2016. 3 goals in 18 Premier League games was an abysmal record for a striker. He wanted to leave Everton, however over time, it seems apparent that this was largely down to his strained relationship with Roberto Martinez. But once Everton signed his best mate Yannick Bolasie, he was happy again.

So far, Lukaku has scored 6 goals in the Premier League – only Diego Costa scored more with 7. His 11-minute hat-trick against Sunderland was the fastest by an Everton player since 1980. And he is one goal away from becoming the third Everton player to score 50 goals in the Premier League. He is happy at Everton again, and thanks to Koeman and Bolasie, it looks like he will be staying at Everton for a little while.

Conclusion

A solid start for Everton. Ronald Koeman, Idrissa Gueye and Ashley Williams instantly made themselves at home, while Maarten Stekelenburg has just finished decorating and Yannick Bolasie is still deciding on which wallpaper to use. Everton’s tally of 15 points after 8 games is their joint-best tally in the Premier League era. Which season did they also reach that tally after 8 games? The 2013/14 season, where they ended up with a record-breaking 72 points.

The signs are looking good. Let’s hope the players keep their heads screwed on and there won’t be any bad injuries.