'There is too much quality': Everton will stand by Ronald Koeman, says Phil Neville

Former Everton captain Phil Neville has urged the Goodison Park faithful to get behind under-fire manager Ronald Koeman and believes the Dutchman still has the ability to turn his side's fortunes around.

Koeman's side delivered a slightly improved, spirited performance against Lyon on Thursday (19 October) but the Ligue 1 outfit still managed to inflict a 2-1 defeat on the Toffees, whose hopes of Europa League progression are hanging by a thread.

The result led to further calls for Koeman to be relieved of his duties, but Neville, who spent eight seasons at Everton, has urged Evertonians to remain calm and back Koeman as he bids to put things right against Arsenal on Sunday.

"Everton fans are feeling a little bit let down with the performances on the field and rightly so. But I think what the Evertonians need to do is maybe just calm down a little bit. It will turn," Neville told talkSPORT.

"There is too much quality in the manager and too much quality in terms of what they have spent.

"They have slipped up so badly in not replacing Romelu Lukaku. That is the main reason why Everton have started the season so badly.

"They have to give Ronald Koeman the support. I think he will turn it round. The tension and the demands that the fans are putting on the team is making the team nervous, particularly at home. They're struggling to perform for the supporters at this moment in time."

Koeman is no stranger to the sack, having been given the boot by Valencia back in 2008, but he may count himself lucky that he still mans the reigns at Goodison Park.

Many other managers would have dismissed Koeman before now - Craig Shakespeare and Frank de Boer provide immediate evidence to back up that assumption - but Neville does not think Everton chief Bill Kenwright wants to be in the business of hiring and firing and will remain patient with Koeman, who believes he is still the right man for the Toffees.

"They haven't played well enough. I don't think Ronald Koeman has found a system or a way of playing yet that suits the players," Neville said.

"But they have to turn it around and I think Ronald Koeman is the man to do that. I don't think for one minute that Everton will sack Ronald Koeman. They will give him time to turn this around.

"Bill Kenwright is not the kind of man who will fire a manager after six, seven, eight bad games. They're a club that like to stand by the manager and I think now is the time that they've got to do it."