Everton manager Ronald Koeman has said that he was left unimpressed by Manchester United's performance despite seeing his side fall to a 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford this afternoon.
The Toffees fell behind inside four minutes through a memorable Antonio Valencia strike, but it was not until the final 10 minutes that the game got away from them as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial gave the scoreline a one-sided look with a flurry of goals late on.
The defeat was Everton's fourth in a row without scoring and sees them drop into the relegation zone despite an active summer in the transfer market, but Koeman insists that his new arrivals will need time to settle in at the club.
"I felt, really, on the touchline, there is something possible this afternoon because I wasn't so impressed by United. That is maybe strange after a 4-0 defeat but, yes, they were really clinical and we didn't deserve this high defeat. Okay, that's football," he told reporters.
"Every manager in life has doubts. There is no-one who has no doubts in life, in football as a manager. And if you don't win and you have a big number of players in your squad and you have doubts about how you need to start, the system to play, but that's normal. Of course, I ask myself the question, 'why, why?' But, okay, if Mkhitaryan of United gets one year to adapt to the Premier League, we have eight new players. Maybe I give them also one year, one season to adapt to the Premier League.
"That was nice because I read the programme of United and my colleague [Mourinho] told about Everton 'they spending £140m', 'they need to go for the top four'. Sorry, if there's anybody in this room and outside who sees something realistic [about] what is possible for this Everton, please come on. Be realistic and let's talk at the end of the season.
"I am not happy [with] how we start the season, but please [be] a little bit realistic about Everton and that starts with everybody, fans, press. We need time, but it's difficult in football."
Everton will resume their search for a first domestic victory since the opening day of the season when they host Sunderland in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Barney Corkhill
