Roy Keane was not spouting hooey. Not completely. His denunciation of Everton in November, when he blithely chucked scorn at the club’s complaints about the strain being placed on their Republic of Ireland internationals, was more than a touch garbled and wholly undiplomatic but it happened to allude to a home truth about Everton. “Maybe their players need to toughen up a bit,” he said.
Ronald Koeman has been saying something similar, albeit with greater precision, since he took over at Goodison Park in the summer. After every defeat he has lamented his side’s lack of aggression, their inability to unsettle opponents, but his signing of Morgan Schneiderlin for £20m from Manchester United said it best: his Everton team must not be so easy to play against; Roberto Martínez’s cuddly toys are going in a skip.
Schneiderlin is no clogger. When he was starting out at his nearest big club, Strasbourg, he was a rather delicate creature who doubted whether he could ever be seen as a forceful midfield presence. “Technically, I’ve nothing to quibble with you about,” he was told by his manager at the time, Jean-Marc Furlan. “But if you want to make the step up you need to be more aggressive and start winning duels.” Schneiderlin admitted his first thought was: “Bloody hell, I don’t have that in me.”
However, he learned quickly to go and win possession rather than just come to life when given the ball, which was just as well, because when Strasbourg were relegated before he had played half a dozen games for them, he was, at 18, bought by Southampton, who were trying to battle their way out of League One. The third tier of English football is not the place for luxury French imports.
Schneiderlin helped drive Southampton all the way to the top flight, where he quickly emerged as a disruptive influence in the most positive sense. During his first season in the Premier League, in 2012-13, he demonstrated exceptional reading of the game and dynamism, making more interceptions and tackles than any other midfielder.
After Mauricio Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins as manager halfway through that season he encouraged Schneiderlin not only to press even more vigorously but also to maraud forward more when his team had the ball, turning him from a sentinel in front of the back four to something a little closer to a box-to-box player. He never became a prolific scorer but, under Pochettino and then under Koeman, he was one of the Premier League’s most progressive defensive midfielders. Manchester United had to outbid plenty of other admirers to get him for £25m in 2015.
That Everton paid almost the same price for him shows that Koeman does not define him by his limitations, unlike José Mourinho, apparently. Louis van Gaal appreciated Schneiderlin’s zesty diligence but the reason that the midfielder has played 11 minutes in the Premier League this season is that Mourinho seems to have been struck most by what he cannot do: Schneiderlin does not have the passing repertoire of Michael Carrick or Paul Pogba, nor quite the subtlety and goal threat of Ander Herrera, nor the jumbo menace of Marouane Fellaini. Surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, he will nonetheless be what Koeman needs if he resumes doing what he did for the Dutchman at Southampton.
That is damning on some of the players whom Koeman inherited at Goodison Park. Gareth Barry, now 35, is above criticism because the waning of his effectiveness is solely down to his age, but others, such as James McCarthy and Ross Barkley, have failed to rise to expectations. Koeman has singled out Tom Davies for praise, partially, one suspects, because the 18-year-old’s vibrant performances exposed the paltry yield from his more senior midfielders.
McCarthy is 26 and Koeman seems to have declared an end to Everton’s wait for him to realise his presumed potential. The manager seems prepared to give Barkley more time but has already warned the 23-year-old that he must achieve consistency soon.
While Koeman considers whether Schneiderlin is ready to slot straight into Everton’s lineup for Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City, he will also have an eye on Senegal’s opening match at the Africa Cup of Nations against Tunisia. The sooner Senegal exit that tournament, the sooner Everton will regain Idrissa Gana Gueye.
When he and Schneiderlin are together, Everton will have a central midfield with real mobility, muscle and guile. Their team will still require substantial renovation before they can fulfil Koeman’s ambitions – but that is a good platform on which to build.
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