Sean Dyche said he would continue to work through the challenge of finding goals for Everton – an issue he accepted he had not yet solved in his near-two years at the club
Sean Dyche said he will continue to do what he can to take on the “challenges” posed to him by an Everton side that has endured a tough start to the season.
The Blues were unable to find a way through a Brentford side that was pointless on the road before visiting Goodison Park and faced almost an hour with 10 men after Christian Norgaard’s first-half red card.
The draw extended Everton’s run to one defeat in eight Premier League games – but also represented a missed opportunity to improve on the record of just two wins in what have now been 12 matches.
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The final whistle was greeted with boos from some sections of the home crowd, with Everton now sitting precariously above the bottom three with a daunting set of approaching fixtures.
The position of Dyche, who has twice led the club to survival against a backdrop of off-the-pitch crises, is not thought to be under imminent threat as the club continues through a takeover process it is hoped will bring stability after years of turbulence.
After the Brentford game, the focus was on the struggles on the pitch, and Dyche’s responsibility for them and the search for solutions, issues which were among the questions posed by the ECHO and other reporters in the post-match press conference. Here are the answers to those questions asked by the ECHO, in full.
Do you think Everton did enough to deserve to win?
No, because we didn’t win it. I thought in the first half we played well, I thought we did better against 11, the dynamic changed with 10, you are playing against a block defense, which is always difficult, and I thought they did well at that and we couldn’t find the moments, the key moments. There was lots of effort, lots of shots and stuff, but there were not really killer moments. I think it’s been something I’ve talked about endlessly since I’ve been in the club, and before I’ve been at the club.
You have been at the club for some time now and that remains a problem. How much of a concern to you is it that still to this day you cannot find the answer?
It’s not a concern, it is a reality. It has been a reality for a long time here. Developing people who score goals is the toughest challenge as a manager. So, if you can’t develop individuals you want to try to develop a team that can score goals. The challenge we have had this season is quite obvious to everyone. We were conceding far too many and we had to change that. So we’ve changed that and now you’ve got to stay effective in the offensive side. So we scored a bit more freely at the beginning of the season, but we were conceding too many. So that’s been the challenge, quite obviously. Overall today I’m disappointed in the result, quite obviously. Credit to them for defending so well in the second half because they have been struggling to keep clean sheets. We’ve got to find killer moments more often than not and we didn’t.
On the struggle for goals, is it something that you think you can find the solution to?
Well, it’s been a longstanding thing here. So, you know, how we find that… most managers do that by checkbook. We can’t do that. So therefore, the development continues. That is what we’re looking to do, remind players of their skillset, on their strengths and working towards them. We don’t know – we will wait and see about the continued development of Youssef [Chermiti] when he gets fit, but he’s a bit away yet. We have AB (Armando Broja] coming in as well. We’ll see what he’s got to offer. I think that adds to the mix. I’ve been trying to find different ways of operating. I’ve tried four or five different ways of operating today to open up what is a packed box. That’s difficult in itself. I mean, that is difficult. You know, when a team sets their stall out, when they’re so defence-minded, which they had to of course, or most do when they have 10 men. So credit to them on that side of things. But it’s hard to break down a block, you know, when it’s right in the goal or the 18 yard line. It is a hard thing to do and we certainly didn’t do enough to break it down today.
What do you think it says about this side for it to come up against a team that hasn’t got a point on the road, has 10 men for a full second half and yet still creates the best chances – [Jordan] Pickford makes two big saves, that has got to be a bit of a concern?
No, it’s just a reality. That’s the Premier League. They are no mugs, these, you know what I mean? They are looking to change things. They operated in a different way in the second half, quite obviously. I’m well aware of the realities of the Premier League and the reality is we have to work with it. So that’s my challenge and that’s what I continue to do, challenge myself to look at the reality of the Premier League whilst looking at what we can do to be effective in it.
So what would your message be to supporters who might be concerned from what they have seen so far?
Supporters have been concerned ever since I walked in the door. They were concerned before I walked in the door and they have been concerned when I’ve been here. I’ve been talking endlessly about us trying to change the story. We haven’t done that. We have had spells when we have done it, and then we have dropped away. And even this spell, one loss in eight. But it doesn’t mean anything because we are not winning and I don’t shy away from that. You want to win, I want to play winning football. And we’re not winning as many as we should be winning, in my opinion. So the work just continues. How many different ways and how many different ways can we affect games? How many different players can we use? How many different styles can we use? This season we are trying to affect it with the ball and we’re opening up and then we were conceding too many goals, so we have to tighten up, and then we are not as effective. We played a lot today, but we didn’t really be effective. So it’s searching, that’s what managers do, we search for the right moments that can win you games and make you more effective.
Whose responsibility is it to find that, ultimately?
Of course it is mine. That’s what managers do, I’m well aware of that. You know, mine, my staff’s the players’. We are all combining with responsibility, but it’s mine… and I have no problem with that. No issue with it at all.
In midweek you said there was no evidence to suggest [Iliman] Ndiaye could play in the middle. At halftime, you chose to have a look at him. What was the thinking behind that?
Well, it was the end of the first half actually, with about seven or eight minutes to go. I just thought well, because we’ve looked at him in training, we’ve looked at different ways, you know, could he affect it? Could he not? There are signs but I’m still not sure he’s a true Premier League number 10. Dwight is nowt either. But I think they are two skillful, quality players who, if we can get them in the right slots, they might produce something. So again, it is just working in different ways to try to open up the opposition and change the feel of the performance.
