Vlasic blasts Allardyce over ‘awful’ football at Everton

Joe Williams

Nikola Vlasic has slammed Sam Allardyce over the brand of football he brought to Everton after replacing Ronald Koeman as manager.

‘Big Sam’ came under fire for his playing style whilst in charge at Goodison Park despite guiding the club to an eighth-placed finish after taking over when they were in relegation trouble.

Allardyce struggled to win over the fans and Vlasic, who struggled to nail down a place in the starting XI under the former England boss.

“Everything changed after (Ronald) Koeman left,” Vlasic told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti.

“The football played under Big Sam was awful, if it could even be called football.

“In such football I do not have a place. The football team was terrified by everything – the fans mostly.”

Vlasic, who is currently out on loan at CSKA Moscow, reckons the Toffees will continue to spend and are becoming the “new Tottenham”.

“Everton has spent £100m last year on reinforcements. Only three players – Richarlison, (Yerry) Mina and (Lucas) Digne – cost about £90m,” Vlasic added.

“Everton are looking for great names and players from big clubs, like Barcelona.

“Despite these immense investments, the team is currently in the 11th place. That means there will be new, big purchases (in the future).

“I know (Everton) have decided internally that they will try to be the new Tottenham and join the biggest league clubs.”