Ronald Koeman bemoans Everton's 'flat' first-half display
Sunday 20 November 2016 22:56, UK
Ronald Koeman was disappointed with Everton's first-half display as they required an 89th-minute header from Seamus Coleman to draw 1-1 with Swansea.
Everton fell behind just before the break when Gylfi Sigurdsson scored from the spot after Phil Jagielka brought him down.
Coleman popped up late on to level, although Everton had failed to create any telling chances in the second half despite upping the pace.
The result left Koeman questioning why Everton failed to get out the blocks in the opening 45 minutes.
"It's wasn't the result you'd expect before the game, but there was a big difference between the first and second half," Koeman told Sky Sports.
Trending
- World Darts Championship: Clemens, Lukeman in action on day five LIVE!
- Transfer Centre LIVE! 'Saudi could offer Rashford way out of Man Utd'
- The Friedkin Group complete Everton takeover
- World Darts Championship schedule: Smith in action on Thursday
- Lawson confirmed as Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate for 2025
- Five years of Arteta: Arsenal transformed but what's next?
- Usyk vs Fury 2: Start time, ring walks, undercard and odds
- Papers: Gravenberch set to stay at Liverpool amid Real Madrid links
- Nunez and Elliott strike as Liverpool battle past Southampton
- Gabriel Jesus is back! Hat-trick for Arsenal striker sinks Palace
"It was really flat and there was less aggression. We had to start the game how we did in the second half, because that was a different team. We made it more difficult for our opponents.
"We spoke about it before the match but maybe it was a question of confidence after the 5-0 defeat against Chelsea. I don't know, because we spoke about starting aggressively, not like that."
Everton's defeat to Chelsea came a fortnight ago, and Koeman also refused to blame the resulting international break on their slow start.
"What I don't like is to find excuses because you need to be aggressive when you start the game. That was my question to the players," Koeman added.
"We made it very comfortable for them, we were not winning one-on-one duels. But we know they can play good football and they made it very difficult.
"If you learn from lessons then it's not a problem. I hope they will learn how we need to play, and that was in the second half."