Saturday 9 September 2017 19:05, UK
Ronald Koeman branded Everton "too nice" and "too weak" after seeing them beaten 3-0 at home by Tottenham.
The hosts began well but faded quickly against Mauricio Pochettino's side, with Harry Kane scoring twice in an emphatic away win.
Kane's second of the afternoon less than a minute into the second half killed Everton off and Koeman concedes his team were not good enough.
He said: "I hope we will take some lessons out of this afternoon. I think we started the game well but after the lucky first goal we lost domination and we lost control of the game.
"It was difficult with Tottenham's diamond in midfield. We had problems controlling that. The second goal made it even more difficult and how we started after half-time was really bad.
"The second half is something to learn from because there were several situations when I think we were too nice, too weak. You need to be more aggressive.
"You saw the difference in quality but you also saw the difference in confidence - one team growing in confidence, a really good side and difficult to control.
"The other side - Everton - was without any confidence. When it's like that, football is really difficult."
Koeman made three changes to his team for the match but then made a double substitution at half-time, bringing on Tom Davies after he had been dropped from the initial line-up.
With the experienced Phil Jagielka also removed from the team which lost 2-0 at Chelsea last month, there was some debate over whether the Dutchman had made the right calls.
He added: "You can ask questions about team selection but it was the best team to start in my opinion. Everybody is right to have other opinions and I respect that.
"Of course, you analyse your opponent. We knew Tottenham's strengths were they have a lot of good players between the lines.
"I was surprised they played with five at the back with the three centre-backs but we spoke about that before the game."
Everton were seventh in the Premier League last season and after a summer in which they spent more than £130m on new players, they have big ambitions again.
Koeman admits, however, the way they were beaten by Tottenham shows how far off the pace they are at present.
He said: "Our ambition is European football. Of course, we have more ambition than that but first of all you need to be realistic.
"If you are still looking to the top six of the Premier League, that's a long way to go - and we showed that in the second half."
