Everton‘s 2024/25 campaign only kicked off five weeks ago, but already Sean Dyche has been thrust into the spotlight given his side’s dreadful start.
This latest iteration of Dyche’s Toffees team looks apt to fall by the wayside, having lost each of their opening four fixtures in the Premier League and squandered two-goal leads in their recent matches against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
Moreover, the Merseysiders were dumped out of the Carabao Cup against fellow league strugglers Southampton following a penalty shootout.
The board have since expressed their full backing of the 53-year-old but fan unrest swirls and swells within roiling waters, and a bad result against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium this weekend could tip the boat over.
Why Everton appointed Sean Dyche
Everton had fallen by the wayside under the tutelage of Frank Lampard and change was needed. The Blues have ebbed and flowed across the past however many interminable years, but now there is a genuine danger of plummeting into the second tier and losing the coveted status of a team never to have fallen from the Premier League.
Lampard had initially shown promise with the outfit but upon his dismissal in January 2023, had not tasted league victory since October 2022 and languished in 19th in the Premier League.
Dyche, when drafted in, was Everton’s seventh permanent manager in as many years under the majority ownership of Farhad Moshiri, accentuating the tumult attached to Goodison Park.
Everton’s Recent Managerial Woes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Manager | Start date | End date | PPG |
Sean Dyche | Jan 2023 | Present | 1.25 |
Frank Lampard | Jan 2022 | Jan 2023 | 1.00 |
Rafael Benitez | Jun 2021 | Jan 2022 | 1.14 |
Carlo Ancelotti | Dec 2019 | Jun 2021 | 1.60 |
Marco Silva | May 2018 | Dec 2019 | 1.38 |
Sam Allardyce | Nov 2017 | May 2018 | 1.42 |
Ronald Koeman | Jun 2016 | Oct 2017 | 1.48 |
Stats via Toffeeweb | |||
Unless there’s a dramatic upswing in results and performances, the axe will likely have to be brandished once again, but it all could have been so different if Marcelo Bielsa had been appointed instead.
Everton missed a trick with Marcelo Bielsa
Talks had been held. A host of well-known managers on the English scene had been considered by the Everton hierarchy and Bielsa, formerly of Leeds United, was one of them.
Argentinian, equipped with but a smattering of words in the English language, Bielsa showcased his quality as one of football’s master tacticians at Elland Road, flanked by a team of close-knit translators and assistants to power Leeds back into the Premier League after a long and lifeless period away.
“He’s a genius,” said Mauricio Pochettino, professing his love for the man who recruited him from Newell’s Old Boys as a youth. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, probably the best manager in the world, looks up to the 69-year-old with eyes as wide as discs.
Leeds burned out in their second season in the top flight but Bielsa ball captivated the land back in 2020/21, finishing ninth and scoring 62 goals – that’s more than Arsenal (55) and fourth-placed Chelsea (58).
Just imagine the kind of success he could have had at Goodison. Dyche instilled cohesion and guided the team to safety, bringing his solid football to the table. Everton knew they had hired an unfashionable brand but solidity and resilience are like bread and butter to the gruff-voiced gaffer.
Everton were solid and unspectacular last season, industrious in applying their craft. But Dyche got the job done, led them to a comfortable Premier League finish despite being hit with an eight-point deduction.
Now, though, they have been sent into a spin. Everton look porous and lack vigour. It’s early days but there’s a dark portent that this could be a tricky season to navigate.
Had Bielsa been the one to have been appointed, it all could have been so different. It’s amazing what the right managerial move can do…
