What the opposition boss said: Koeman on Spurs defeat

This looked a difficult game on paper after Everton had finally had the opportunity to open their chequebook this summer, bringing in the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Rooney, Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane and Davy Klaassen.

However, the match itself was a different matter as Tottenham dominated the 90 minutes and cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win. Everton boss Ronald Koeman spoke to the media after the game to give his opinion.

Koeman admitted that he was surprised that Tottenham decided to play with a back three, following the recent signing of Davinson Sanchez who more than comfortably slotted in between Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

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.”

“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.”

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