It was a tough day at the office for The Master Tactician.
Despite being the Premier League's most in-form team in 2017 thus far, Ronald Koeman's lacklustre Everton were once more outclassed at Anfield as Liverpool cantered to a 3-1 Merseyside derby victory.
In a week where Everton distinctly missed Séamus Coleman on their right-hand side, Ross Barkley should have been sent off for a horrendous challenge on Dejan Lovren, but goals from Sadio Mané, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi did for the Blues up the road.
Speaking after the game, Koeman once more reignited his feud with Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, which seemed to have peaked last night when Koeman sarcastically tweeted a response to O'Neill's rather cutting statement earlier on Friday.
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
To be fair to the Everton boss, he was asked the question by the interviewer, explaining that his spat with O'Neill hadn't remotely distracted him from the task at hand at Anfield. He did, however, describe O'Neill's statement as "really unfair", again stating that James McCarthy had a three-and-a-half-week holiday as opposed to the 11 days claimed by his international manager.
This one will presumably continue to roll on until June, at least.
