Did missing out on Arsenal striker get Ronald Koeman the sack?

There were many rumours in the summer that Koeman was trying to buy Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud after selling Lukaku, and he has now admitted that missing out on Giroud was his biggest disappointment of the window after managing to get the Frenchman up to Goodison Park for talks. “I had Olivier Giroud in the building,” Koeman lamented. “He would have fitted perfectly but, at the very last moment, he decided that he’d rather live in London, and stay at Arsenal.

“That was really hard to swallow. You tell me, where you can get a better striker?

“Lukaku was so important for us, not just because of his goals. If things were not going well in a game, if we could not play the way we were used to, there was always the option to use the long ball towards him.

“All of a sudden, we were missing such a player. With Nikola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, we had attackers who want the ball at their feet.”

“I was on holiday when I received the Premier League fixture list by e-mail,”

“I looked at it and saw that five of our first nine games would be against clubs from last season’s top six: Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Man United and Arsenal.

“I looked at it again and I said to myself, ‘Phew! That is not going to be an easy run, in particular with a Europa League run at the same time’. And, most of all, because I had lost my striker Lukaku.”

So is losing out on Giroud the reason that Everton could not compete this season? Would he have made such a big difference to their League position with that fixture list and saved Koeman’s job?

Darren N

8 Comments

  1. It’s a bit understandable Everton have lost patience, but on the other hand it’s not that surprising that with so many changes they might struggle early on. They did make some excellent acquisitions even without Giroud, but now they have to work on a system everyone understands and can gel with. We shouldn’t underestimate them. I would be surprised if they weren’t back up to at least upper mid-table by season’s end and back fighting for possible European positions next season.

    Of course, the problem despite a good transfer window for them is that so many other teams that were already equal or better also made big improvements, and even newly promoted teams have strengths and are competitive. Similar problem for us, the strong moves for Lacazette & Kolasinac are just not nearly enough given what others have done (even leaving aside the issue of unsettled players allowed to go into last year of contracts).

  2. Giroud would not have solved their problems. They would have a few more goals but Their defense is really poor. Their performances have been shockingly bad. They lost to us and we aren’t exactly the best in the league
    Giroud made the right decision.
    I am glad he did because he is a perfect sub for Lacazette

  3. Sorry to go off topic, but just read that the Board are going to review Wenger’s contract in the summer. What’s that, after they’ve got the season ticket money in, nothing changes

  4. My preferred lineup against Swansea
    Alexis-Lacazette
    Mesut
    Wilshere-ramsey
    Coquelin
    Kolasinac-monreal-koscielny-bellerin
    Cech

  5. Koeman’s job would have been under pressure with or without Giroud given how their season’s been going so far. I’m really surprised though, because Koeman’s record has been excellent up until now, and I think perhaps Everton were hasty in sacking him. Although him thinking that Giroud would have been an adequate replacement for Lukaku makes me think he might be losing it a bit!

    As much as I like him, Slaven Billic at West Ham is the next one that will probably be shown the door by his bosses this season.

  6. Sorry, Ronny. When you spend 140mil quid your club should be playing a little better than they did…. with or without Giroud. So I don’t think he would’ve solved all your problems. Frankly, I wouldn’t have bought Rooney who’s clearly passed his prime. I wouldn’t have spent 30mil on Pickford whose club just got relegated. There were gaps in your defense, and you failed to address them. So to be brutally honest, you deserved the sack.

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