Everton manager Ronald Koeman has praised his players after they overcame an in-form West Ham side to win 2-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley stood out for the Toffees, but Koeman was delighted with the overallteam performance in the second half.
Speaking totalkSPORTafter the game, he said:It was a difficult, difficult game.
Ronald Koeman becomes the 3rd Everton boss to remain unbeaten in his opening 5 home league games. Mike Walker & Roberto Martinez the others. pic.twitter.com/E1Eto3tg0I
First half, I think it was not good enough and we missed some confidence in the team after a few results in the last few weeks. But in the second half we showed more composure, were more aggressive and the pressing was better.
The first [goal] after half-time brought that confidence to the team and finally we had good defending and good chances to score more goals and the team performance in the second half was very good.�
Koeman also revealed what he told the players that prompted such an improvement in the second half.
I asked why we were doubting “ we need to go for it when we play at home," he added. "You have the support of the fans and you have to show that and need to do more pressing and keep a higher line defensively. That was the difference and key point to turn around and get that final result.
Players like [Bryan] Oviedo, [Ramiro] Funes Mori and Joel [Robles] showed if there is a problem we have good players not playing regularly this season and showed the importance today.
It's always difficult and you need to show when you get the chance. The whole team performance was perfect.�