Sean Dyche is walking on thin ice at Everton. A dismal start to the campaign has seen the Toffees pick up just a solitary Premier League point, courtesy of a draw against Leicester City at the weekend.
Add in the fact they have also been knocked out of the League Cup, and it is clear to see why the pressure is mounting on Dyche.
If the same performances continue, the former Burnley boss could soon find himself out of a job…
Sean Dyche’s Everton statistics
The Englishman took over at the Merseyside outfit in 2023 following the sacking of Frank Lampard. A 1-0 win over Arsenal in his first game in charge looked like it could be a sign of things to come.
He managed to keep them in the Premier League during his first few months, yet was expected to kick on during his first full campaign in 2023/24.
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Everton’s first five league results this season |
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|---|---|
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Opponent |
Score |
|
Brighton |
3-0 Brighton |
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
4-0 Tottenham |
|
Bournemouth |
3-2 Bournemouth |
|
Aston Villa |
3-2 Bournemouth |
|
Leicester City |
1-1 draw |
While they ended the season with 13 clean sheets, the club finished in a lowly 15th place, although a points deduction meant they would have finished higher.
Heading into their final year at Goodison Park, hopes were high that Dyche could lead them to a top-half finish, but that looks like a pipe dream right now.
Did they appoint the right person back in 2023? Or should they have turned to another boss who had extensive Premier League experience instead?
Everton’s main Dyche alternative
After Lampard was given his marching orders, thoughts immediately turned to his successor. Among the names linked was former Southampton boss Hasenhuttl but Farhad Moshiri evidently opted to look elsewhere.
He was sacked by the south coast side in November 2022 after winning just four league games since March, but he saved them from relegation in 2019, before achieving finishes of 11th, 15th and 15th across his three full campaigns in charge of the St Mary’s outfit.
Across 173 matches in all competitions, the Saints scored 241 times under Hasenhuttl, while he averaged 1.25 points per game, solid enough numbers.
He was even heavily praised by Pep Guardiola back in 2020 as the Austrian had been in charge for just over a year, saying: “Southampton have an exceptional manager. I know him a little bit from my time in Germany. He was at many clubs, Leipzig played in a specific style.
“He has experience at the back and one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, [Oriol] Romeu. They have James Ward-Prowse, incredible player in set pieces. So no surprise in their success. Southampton for many, many years have been working well – so no surprise.”
Incredible praise indeed from one of the best in the business. While it didn’t end well for him at Southampton, surely he would have been a more dynamic appointment to that of Dyche, despite the latter’s legacy with Burnley.
An incredibly press-heavy side off the ball, his Saints team were particularly patient with it, waiting for the right moment to pounce and unlock the defence. Everton lack that patient attitude, playing the fewest accurate short passes (1009) of any team in the Premier League this term and the highest volume of accurate long passes (155).
So, it’s not particularly great reading, is it? Everton certainly need to pick up points sooner rather than later. If not, Dyche will be picking up his P45 in no time at all.
