Saturday 10 December 2016 16:09, UK
Ronald Koeman criticised Everton for being "passive" during their 3-2 defeat at Watford.
Despite Romelu Lukaku opening the scoring at Vicarage Road, the Toffees slipped to a fourth straight away defeat to leave them with just one win from their last 10 Premier League games.
"I think the start was good, we were the dominant team and scored a good goal - but then the problems started because we didn't do the same and control the game," Koeman told Sky Sports.
"We had some bad mistakes and (there was) not good communication. They have taller players who make things difficult at set plays - but in the end it could have been a draw.
"We took the risk and maybe that's the big problem at the moment...if we are down we have a good reaction - but why not earlier in the game?
"The team is too passive and it's not proactive - it's reactive. Maybe (there was) fear and they felt afraid at 1-0. That should give everybody confidence. The reaction was too late, we're not taking the initiative in a game.
"I know it's maybe a lack of confidence but if you start a game well and go 1-0 up you need a bigger belief, not going back and defending and being nervous. That's the big problem in my opinion."
The Toffees' next two games are against Arsenal and Liverpool and Koeman admitted: "I'm worried at the moment because we have had a bad run of results.
"Maybe it's good we play them at home because we are strong at home, away we have more problems. They are good teams - but we can beat them."
