Everton boss Ronald Koeman has claimed that his side were scared as they played out to a 2-2 draw with Apollon Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday.
The Toffees will be extremely disappointed with the draw against the Cypriot side especially as they are on paper a far stronger side.
Adrian Sardinero scored early on in the first half to give Limassol the lead. Wayne Rooney went on to equalize before Nikola Vlasic gave the Toffees the lead.
The Merseyside club had a man advantage late on in the second half after Valentin Roberge was given his marching orders for stamping on Dominic Calvert-Lewin but they could not take advantage.
Following the game, Koeman admitted that his side are showing signs of fear after the game and said, “They are afraid in (how they are) playing.
“That’s difficult in the situation like we are – we are missing seven, eight players (through injury). Maybe that’s too much in the situation that the team is. We’ve had two wins and a win today makes a difference.
“It’s in the heads of the players, you can help them, support them, make it clear for everybody, give the players confidence, but finally by the whistle I don’t play the ball back. It’s up to the player – give the player options.
“We are scared, we are afraid to play forward and that makes it difficult. Maybe sometimes there are not enough options to play forwards but even if there are no options, play the ball in the channel instead of back to the goalkeeper.
After spending heavily during the summer, there were heavy expectations on the Toffees for this season. They have so far under-performed as they have claimed just two wins from nine games thus far.
