Ronald Koeman spoke out his spat with his Republic of Ireland counterpart Martin O’Neill at a press conference today,
O’Neill accused the Everton boss of failing to protect midfielder James McCarthy, calling the Dutchman “master tactician of the blame game”, before Koeman responded on Twitter.
James McCarthy began his pre-season three and a half weeks after Ireland were knocked out of the Euros. From the master tactician
— Ronald Koeman (@RonaldKoeman) March 31, 2017
Asked today why he had felt the need to assert himself in that way, Koeman said: “To defend the club, to defend the medical team of the club.
“I’m the right man to do that, and it’s my responsibility, not yours.
When asked if there was an update on the fitness of James McCarthy, he replied with a terse “no”.
Koeman also urged Ross Barkley to respond to his critics with more performances like those he was producing before Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
Barkley and Romelu Lukaku have been focused upon in much of the criticism of the Toffees’ efforts in the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool at the weekend.
Koeman feels it is unfair for the pair to be singled out from a team display he admitted on Monday was “not good enough”.
But the Dutchman did say about Barkley: “Ross played in a position that was a little different to where he played for the last few weeks.
“And of course he lost several balls in the midfield, instead of playing a little bit faster.
“He needs to improve in that.”
Koeman, who on Saturday acknowledged Barkley may have been fortunate not to be shown two yellow cards for challenges he made in the derby, added of the 23-year-old England midfielder: “He needs to show the type of player he is.
“He is now a full international player. That is what I look for out of his performances.
“On Saturday he was not at the level that he can perform – in the last two or three months, he was that type of player we like to see.”
Koeman, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Manchester United, also admitted Premier League top-scorer Lukaku under-performed against Liverpool, describing him as having been “not really sharp and a little bit tired”.
But he questioned the need to criticise the Belgian, saying: “He is a great striker, he is working hard. He is a human boy, and it is not always a 10 (out of 10 performance).”
Koeman stressed that “to take out one or two and (suggest) that was the problem on Saturday is not fair.”
And he reiterated his statement from the weekend that he was “really proud” of his side, which featured several youngsters in the absence of various injured players.
Koeman said he understood some comments that had been made since the derby but not others, and said: “I am a manager who sees football realistically, but some have some problems to see that.
“It’s easy to give your opinion in front of the television without any responsibility. I am happy. I see a lot of progress in the team, in the club. The whole season is not one game.”
The Red Devils were held 0-0 at Old Trafford by West Brom on Saturday – their eighth home draw in the league this season.
Koeman said: “We know that they have difficulties at home, maybe in the last few home results, but they had a lot of ball possession and were the better team in every game.
“They are still a really strong team.”
