Ronald Koeman believes that Chelsea's greater experience made all the difference as they defeated his patched-up Everton 3-0 at Goodison.

The Blues boss said the scoreline painted an overly harsh picture of the contest, but admitted his men didn't have enough nous to cope with the champions elect.

He said: "The difference is they are more experienced than we are. We have some young players, we don’t’ have five or six players and also missed Schneiderlin today and then it is too much.

"We started well. A bit unlucky we hit the post but I think we made some mistakes in our ball possession and that made them really dangerous in the first half.

"I think we did a good job until the 1-0 and after that makes it more difficult to create really open chances and if they get a little bit more space they are a team who will kill the game.


Koeman was equally impressed by the opposition's clinical efforts in the final third.

"They showed to be a better team," he said. "Comparing our offensive part was the difference today.

Ronald Koeman ahead of the game with Chelsea

"One of the most difficult things is to create chances (against them). It is a difficult system to play against.

"They wait and they are really clinical.

"Maybe they missed two good chances in the first half but it is a team that even without playing on a high football level they will win the game because they have that quality."