It’s not the Ronald Koeman derby, Southampton v Everton is a clash of contrasting ideas
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Published 25/11/2016 at 11:02 GMT
Everton's Ronald Koeman faces his former team Southampton this weekend in a battle of completely contrasting clubs, writes Richard Jolly.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman and Ross Barkley shake hands after the game
Image credit: Reuters
It is part reunion, part examination of contrasting approaches pursued by the upwardly mobile mid-table clubs. Southampton against Everton on Sunday could be presented as the Ronald Koeman derby, a chance to examine if the Dutchman had traded up or down by leaving a club who finished sixth last season to take over one who had come 11th in back-to-back campaigns. As ever when rejection is involved, there is the possibility of rancour. Win, lose or draw and the result will be framed in the context of Koeman.
And yet he forms part of a bigger battle: one of ideas. Southampton can represent the new, Everton the old, and not merely because they have stadia from the 21st and 19th centuries respectively. Saints are the model of the Moneyball club, admired for their astute dealings, forever planning replacements as they make profits on players. Everton are old-fashioned, obstinate, trying to resist the tide of change as they cherish memories of their primacy.
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Manchester United and England midfielder David Beckham (R) is tackled by Everton's Thomas Graveson during their Premier League match at Old Trafford February 3, 2001.
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Southampton are a selling club. Everton prefer to resist bids. Southampton are a stepping stone. Everton see themselves as a destination club. The differences are apparent in the respective departure lounges. Since Thomas Gravesen swapped Goodison Park for the Bernabeu in January 2005, Everton have only lost six players to the elite clubs. Southampton lost five in the summer of 2014 alone.
Consider the sextet who quit Goodison and it is notable that four commanded premium prices: Joleon Lescott, who was, at £22 million, the third-most expensive defender ever when he joined Manchester City; John Stones, who was the second costliest in football history at £47.5 million when he made the same move seven years later; Jack Rodwell, who was not even a regular for Everton, yielded £15 million, again courtesy of City; and Marouane Fellaini, who was a £27.5 million club-record sale to Manchester United, even though the suspicion is Roberto Martinez was glad to see him go.
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John Stones celebrates, unaware his goal for Manchester City against Southampton has been disallowed
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Only Steven Pienaar, whose contract was being run down when he was sold to Tottenham, and Mikel Arteta, allowed to pursue his dream of playing Champions League football at Arsenal, went for comparatively normal fees. Their status as reluctant sellers helps them ramp up the price. There is an element of exclusivity about buying from Everton. Few do it.
In contrast, Southampton have a metaphorical sign above the door. They are open for business, and it is a profitable existence. They have banked over £200 million in three summers, more than £50 million of it from Manchester United and around £100 million of it from Liverpool. They sell players and managers. They polish up youth products, introduce imports to the English market and advertise them in the world’s most watched league. The chances are that more Championship and League One clubs want to be Southampton than Everton, not least because it seems more attainable. Many of them were above Saints in the football pyramid when they languished in League One six years ago.
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Liverpool's Senegalese midfielder Sadio Mane applauds at the end of the English Premier League football match between Swansea City and Liverpool at The Liberty Stadium in Swansea, south Wales on October 1, 2016.
Image credit: AFP
Everton are different. They are in their 114th season of top-flight football. They have won nine league titles. They were the Football League’s joint most decorated club as recently as 1970. It jars with their history and identity to be seen as a staging post en route to somewhere more glamorous.
It is why they try to imbue arrivals with loyalty. Bonds can be forged. David Moyes took it as a personal affront when Lescott, in particular, wanted to leave. But there are also institutional attempts to make footballers Evertonians, not just players who are passing through the club.
Arrivals at Goodison Park are presented with a folder about Everton, trying to educate them about their new club. There are sections on the most glorious parts of their past, bits about individuals whose importance is known to fans but perhaps not to newcomers. Graeme Sharp is a case in point: Everton’s record post-war scorer is a regular sight at Goodison on matchdays but has not played for the club since 1991, when summer signings Idrissa Gueye and Yannick Bolasie were just approaching their second birthdays. They could not be expected to remember Sharp, but they are made aware of him.
It may be a small detail, but Everton’s players show a longevity that only tends to be rivalled by trophy-winning clubs. They have created a culture where many are happy to stay for the bulk of their careers. Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka are in their 10th seasons at Goodison Park. Tim Howard lasted a decade, Tim Cahill and Phil Neville eight years apiece, Leon Osman and Tony Hibbert their whole careers.
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Manchester United's Paul McGrath (l) and Norman Whiteside (r) look on as teammate Bryan Robson (second l) tangles with Graeme Sharp of Everton (second r)
Image credit: PA Photos
And perhaps no club has kept so many players out of the clutches of their supposed superiors. That would not have been possible were all agitating for a move. Instead Everton could deem Manchester United’s 2013 bid for Baines “insulting and derisory.” There was interest in Jagielka from Arsenal, Seamus Coleman from United, Ross Barkley from Manchester City and Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. James McCarthy and Kevin Mirallas have attracted attention, too. All remain at Goodison Park and if the striker is unlikely to stay forever, Everton’s past suggests his sale will bring in a huge fee.
And not all of Southampton’s do. Nathaniel Clyne and Victor Wanyama each only had a year left on their respective contracts, but were worth more than £12 million apiece. Each showed there is a pathway to the exit, one the outstanding Virgil van Dijk may follow. As Koeman, who commanded £5 million in compensation, shows, every Saint has his price.
And while Everton’s stubborn approach may have cost them – players like Baines and Jagielka have minimal resale value now – this season prompts questions about the sustainability of Southampton’s methodology. They offer reasons for ambitious players to join them (unlike, say, West Brom, as their self-defeating stance in the Saido Berahino saga shows), and they have bought brilliantly at times, as Van Dijk and Sadio Mane prove, but clubs can only sell so often before they end up with replacements of an inferior quality. Everton try and avoid that situation by keeping their prized assets. It is why Sunday’s match is a clash of footballing and financial models.
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