Sam Allardyce has been criticised for his “awful” style of football with Nikola Vlasic insisting it left the team terrified.
Allardyce replaced Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park last season, prioritising results over style to ensure the Toffees safely avoided a relegation battle.
But Croatian midfielder Vlasic, now on loan at CSKA Moscow, has delivered a scathing review of Allardyce’s time at the club.
“Everything changed after (Ronald) Koeman left,” Vlasic told Sportske Novosti. “The football played under Big Sam was awful, if it could even be called football.
“In such football I do not have a place. The football team was terrified by everything – the fans mostly.”
Vlasic adds the Toffees are using Tottenham as an example in the quest to break through and challenge the top four.
“Everton has spent $100 million last year on reinforcements,” he added. “Only three players – Richarlison, (Yerry) Mina and (Lucas) Digne – cost about 90 million.
“Everton are looking for great names and players from big clubs, like Barcelona.
“Despite these immense investments, the team is currently in the 11th place. That means there will be new, big purchases (in the future).
“I know (Everton) have decided internally that they will try to be the new Tottenham and join the biggest league clubs.”
