Sam Allardyce has said he needs the aggravation of trying to repair Everton although the thought of retirement crossed his mind after the humbling at Arsenal last Saturday.
The Everton manager had described his team’s performance as “pathetic” and “crap” at the Emirates Stadium, where a 5-1 defeat meant Allardyce, the caretaker David Unsworth and Ronald Koeman have each overseen two defeats this season when four or more goals have been conceded. Allardyce was also criticised having changed his team and tactics from a midweek win over Leicester City to mirror Swansea City’s approach when beating Arsène Wenger’s side.
Everton sit 10th but are only seven points clear of the relegation zone going into the home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Their 63-year-old manager came out of retirement for a £6m-a-year, 18-month contract at Goodison Park and admits he fleetingly questioned that decision after Arsenal.
“I think it always crosses your mind,” Allardyce said when asked whether he wished he had stayed retired. “I think it crosses your mind sometimes when you are a bit down but that doesn’t last very long. I need it [the hassle] because it keeps me alive. As Fergie said: ‘I’m getting too old to retire.’ A great statement that was. You see Arsène, you see Roy [Hodgson] doing so well so you keep going. The only thing that stopped me was health reasons really. The only way I stop is that or if I don’t keep my job.”
Despite delivering a scathing assessment of the team at Arsenal, the Everton manager has softened his criticism having analysed the game.
Allardyce said: “I was terrible on Saturday night. You don’t sleep. I don’t sleep much anyway but I watched the game on Sky initially, the 30-minute game, and I’ve seen it again since and it was actually a bit better than I thought. The first 30 minutes were bad but you have to give a huge amount of credit to Arsenal’s movement and quality.
“We were playing a deep line and they found spaces. We should have blocked them off more. You have to lift the lads and get them going again. The lads have been shown it again – they all get it sent to their iPhones and iPads – and now we have to put it to one side and look to the next challenge which is Palace.”