Sean Dyche’s time at Everton is over – only time will tell whether it’s the right move for a club now looking to move on from miserable years, or one that could land them in their deepest trouble yet Decide too early.
As at Watford and Burnley, a change of ownership also spelled the end for Dyche. The manager isn’t to everyone’s taste, but his ability to keep his team in the Premier League against all odds is unmatched by anyone else working in the country in recent years.
The question the Everton board must consider is whether Dyche and his style can get the best results possible with a limited squad, or whether his methods are actually holding them back and keeping them in the relegation mix.
Is Sean Dyche holding Everton back, or is there more to be gained from this team than anyone thought?
No matter how you look at it, just 15 goals in 19 games is absolutely paltry, but their defensive record is only better than six of the top seven and better than Manchester City – but that doesn’t mean What are you used to? Only Nottingham Forest has kept more clean sheets. Best of all: this record has helped Everton stay outside the relegation zone so far.
Well, this comes down to a classic question. Will taking a more attacking approach net enough goals for Everton to make up for the extra goals they might concede by taking off the handbrake?
Deitch has the data to back up this notion, arguing that this is not the case. Unsurprisingly, Everton’s expected goals ratio is the lowest in the Premier League – Opta recorded just 18.33 – but relative to the chances they create, they remain one of the worst teams in the division. Only Southampton (6.42%) has a worse conversion rate than Everton’s 6.94%.
Wolves have scored roughly twice as many goals as Everton with almost exactly the same number of shots. Brentford have scored more than two and a half times as many goals as Brentford and have almost exactly the same number of shots on goal.
But does anyone in Everton’s squad have as reliable a goalscorer as Eoin Wiesa, Brian Mbemo, Jorgen Strand-Larsen or Mathews Cunha? Can any of them rival the creative work of Mikkel Damsgaard or Ryan Ait-Nouri? You can totally imagine Deitch sitting in his office asking himself the same question.
But Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ashley Young and Dwight McNeil may insist they do have the talent required and all they need is more permission to showcase their talents .
Everton deserve credit for drawing back-to-back draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City over the Christmas period, but they also shared the spoils with Leicester, Fulham, West Ham and Brentford. They’ve lost without a goal to Southampton, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United – none of whom are particularly regarded as defensively strong teams.
This is where the defense-first approach feels costly, and provides Dyche with a stronger case. They have already lost 4-0 to Tottenham and Manchester United Anyway: Does it really matter to them to try something different and risk the same score, but also increase the likelihood of winning some games?
It’s a cliché, but a crucial one for Everton: winning one game and losing two will result in more points than drawing two and losing the other.
Regardless, the attack vs. defense paradigm is becoming increasingly outdated. A team that excels in attack will spend less time defending its own goal, and there is an argument to be made that Dyche’s approach simply puts more pressure on defensive capabilities than they allow for.
That’s why it’s not surprising to see it David Moyes linked with vacancy You suspect it has nothing to do with sentimentality.
A manager like Moyes will not be willing to throw Dyche’s defensive treasures out with the attacking bathwater; instead, he will seek to find the right balance between the two. Moyes managed to do this during most of his time at West Ham United and Everton.
It was a gamble for Everton to let go of Dyche, but one they clearly feel is worth it. Now they just have to hope their faith in the team is worth it to achieve more in an easier way.
