When Everton re-signed Wayne Rooney this summer, they’d have probably felt that they were getting a mature veteran who could lead by example both on and off the park.

Unfortunately for the club, thirty-one year old Rooney was arrested during the international break on a drink driving charge.

That has caused some disruption for the player and also for the club.

Today Toffees boss Ronald Koeman stated that the club would deal with the forward but he wouldn’t give a timescale or a inclination of what punishment England’s top scorer would receive:

“We have spoken on Tuesday and the chairman Bill Kenwright has spoken to him about his situation,”

“He will be dealt with internally at the appropriate time.”

I personally think that the Dutchman and his board have handled the situation in the right manner. There’s no point holding the player to a public trial and go into detail what they have planned in their punishment of the star.

It also doesn’t have to be dealt with immediately, the club can have an internal investigation and wait and see what the trial brings up.

The club and the squad have to be focussed on what comes next on the football pitch.

They have had an average start to the season, recording one win, one draw and a single defeat in their first three Premier League fixtures.

In fairness to the Toffees, they had to face both high spending Manchester City (draw) and last season’s league champions Chelsea (defeat) away from home.

It doesn’t get much better after the international break as Everton welcome yet another top four team in Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.

Spurs, like Everton, have struggled to get going so far this season. Like their rivals on Saturday, the North London club have only managed four points in their first three games.

The Lilywhites new home, Wembley, seems to be an issue at the moment as they’ve failed to win there in two attempts (against Chelsea and Burnley). So they might fancy getting all three points from their trip to Merseyside as it will possibly give them a freedom of playing away from the national stadium.

But for Everton, they need to show more progress against a top team and show that they are capable of beating sides that finished above them last term, especially if they want to finish above them at the end of this campaign.

The Goodison Park side have spent big this summer. As well as bringing Rooney back they have splashed the cash to bring in; Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Sandor Ramirez, Cuco Martina, Davy Klaassen, Nikola Vlasic and Gylfi Sigurdsson.

These purchases have been brought in to get the Blues up the table and to challenge for a top four place. So home games against sides like Spurs, although tough, should be games that Everton want to be winning.

The Toffees have been disciplined in their approach and work hard as a unit.

They will need to continue with that attitude and focus. Against Tottenham they will need to deal with the threats that the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will throw at them.

Against Spurs, the Blues will also have to breakdown a stern defence and a top class goalkeeper.

Rooney might be key in that as he’s been impressive in the opposition’s half so far this season.

The experienced forward has scored twice in his three league appearances. He also helps dictate play and taken pressure away from his teammates. His understanding with young wideman Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been particularly impressive so far.

That’s why I’d still expect Koeman to select Rooney this weekend. It might have been different if the opponents were slightly weaker but this is a big test for Koeman’s men and Rooney’s experience could prove to be vital.

For Everton progression has to be the key. Yes they’ve had a tough opening month in terms of opposition and they’ve had added fixtures from the Europa League on top of that.

But being in Europe and playing in big domestic fixtures is where Everton have aspired reach. To cement their place as a challenging top four team, the club need to produce a highly polished performance against a noted Premier League side.

What better way to kick start their season by getting a valuable victory over last season’s runners-up, especially after such a difficult week off the field.

Posted on September 7th, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article