The inside story of how Sean Dyche saved Everton from relegation

Sean Dyche came out fighting in his post-match press conference having just overseen the result that confirmed Everton’s Premier League survival.

The final day win over Bournemouth represented a job well done by the Blues boss – and one he deserves significant credit for pulling off: Everton extending its top flight status for a 70th consecutive season had seemed improbable when Dyche arrived at Finch Farm in late January.

He was appointed to a club in crisis and, four months later, he remains the figurehead of an organisation engulfed in chaos. He acknowledged this on Sunday evening – pointing to the “loads of change” he believes is required to turn around the fortunes of a “massive” but underperforming institution.

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That work is no doubt easier with Everton retaining its position in the Premier League for another season. And now that he can look towards a longer-term vision, he might finally start to decorate the training ground office that still lies almost as it was when he moved in. After a rollercoaster start to his Blues career this is how Dyche pulled off what, at times, appeared to be an unlikely escape.

It would be an understatement to say Everton was a club in trouble when Dyche was pictured walking through the corridors of Finch Farm with director of football Kevin Thelwell. The turmoil was such that his appointment was common knowledge days before it was officially announced and he entered the fray with the club looking destined for another war with relegation, embroiled in toxicity and heading towards the conclusion of a transfer window it would ultimately end weaker.

The 51-year-old and his trusted coaching team were the only new faces that would arrive at the club in January and, unfairly, Dyche was the person who had to front up to the shambles that had preceded him. His task could not have been more daunting.

Morale in the dressing room had collapsed and a side that had not won a competitive game for more than three months lay three points from safety. After weeks in which senior figures from former manager Frank Lampard to majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri had enhanced expectations of attacking reinforcements, none had arrived. In contrast, relegation rivals Wolves, Southampton, Leeds United and Bournemouth had spent tens of millions, often on players Everton had tracked and courted.

Upon his appointment, Dyche adopted a two-pronged approach to quickly deal with physical and psychological weaknesses he immediately identified in the squad. The resilience of the players in both areas had been whittled away by months of struggle. The damaging collapse to Brighton weeks earlier, the defeat that effectively ended the reign of Lampard, had showcased the vulnerability of a dressing room Dyche believed to be too emotionally turbulent. Wins would be celebrated too vigorously and defeats would cast an exaggerated shadow on morale.

One of Dyche’s first gambits was to run an anonymous questionnaire through the squad and surviving staff to learn of their concerns in the hope they would buy into his regime if they could see it valued their input. The most emphatic example of Dyche’s willingness to work with those who sought support was the case of Ellis Simms, who scored his first senior goal as a Blue against Chelsea just days after approaching Dyche for guidance.

On the playing side, Dyche sought to strengthen players and in recent weeks he has hinted at a belief that had he had this squad through pre-season it would not have suffered the same debilitating injury problems. First up for Dyche was table-topping Arsenal and, publicly, his pre-game press conference was overshadowed by questions about the transfer window he could not answer but was forced to absorb. The main headlines ended up focusing on what, at first glance, were superficial changes to training – demanding players no longer wore snoods and hats and ordering them to play with shin pads.

Essentially, he wanted them to train as they would play on a matchday. The approach gained light-hearted appreciation but beneath it lay a serious ambition. Dyche immediately set about drilling fundamentals about work ethic and professionalism into a squad he knew could only survive by working harder and more effectively than others at the wrong end of the table. A fitness drive was bolstered by efforts to create a “relentless” mentality in which the players believed anything was possible at all times. This ultimately made the difference – Everton secured late, valuable equalisers against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves. Without those three points Everton would have finished in the bottom three.

On the pitch, Dyche changed approach immediately, moving to a 4-5-1 and bringing in Abdoulaye Doucoure from the cold. The midfielder had been frozen out by Lampard after a bust-up and his Everton career looked set to end in ignominy. Instead, Dyche placed his faith in the 30-year-old and was rewarded handsomely. Doucoure not only scored the goal that ultimately kept Everton up, in 15 games under Dyche he scored five and created two. Everton only scored 34 all season, meaning Doucoure was directly involved in more than 20% of the club’s total goals in those games alone.

The drop in form inspired by his three-game suspension following a red card against Spurs showcased how valuable he had become in the closing stages of the campaign. Dyche has railed against the idea that he plays direct or unimaginative football, arguing his sides have been moulded by context – particularly at Burnley, where he created a competitive top flight outfit on a smaller budget than the clubs around it.

He certainly brought a clarity of approach to Everton and his use of Doucoure, encouraging him to burst from the middle to support a frontman, enabled him to overcome the squad’s crippling inability to move up the pitch as a team. Against Arsenal, Everton not only achieved a shock, morale-boosting win, they also deserved it. A key feature of Dyche’s impact was how the side greatly increased the number of touches in the box of the opposition and its xG – expected goals from the chances created – immediately rose. Finishing those chances would remain a problem, but Everton under Dyche looked capable of scoring and that was a huge improvement.

The Arsenal game provided the template Dyche would work from and, while he could stick to it, Everton were competitive. Across his opening 10 games, which included further vital wins over Leeds United and Brentford, he appeared to be building momentum that would take the Blues away from danger with a few games to spare. This hope failed to materialise as Everton’s historic recruitment issues haunted him. Injuries to key players at key times and the suspension of Doucoure undermined his tactics and forced him to innovate with a squad that had little flexibility. The most damaging run of games came against Manchester United and Fulham – two of the games Doucoure’s absence deprived him of the only player who, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin injured – could link midfield to attack.

Amid that problem and injuries to the likes of Seamus Coleman, Dyche was forced to abandon his 4-5-1 but was unable to find an effective solution. Everton lost 2-0 at Old Trafford but could have been thrashed, while maintaining the 4-4-2 deployed in that game led to a terrible start against Fulham – a game in which a win would have taken Everton to the cusp of safety but instead was lost 3-1. Dyche did not get every decision right – his usage of Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey at right back when Nathan Patterson was fit was costly and baffling and, having quickly dropped Conor Coady for Michael Keane he appeared strangely reluctant to give an opportunity to Yerry Mina.

Once he did, Everton’s defensive stability vastly increased. But it is fair to highlight Dyche had a patchwork and limited squad and he abandoned an effective approach only when change was forced upon him.

Trust underpinned Dyche’s success with key players and was likely a key factor in Keane’s prolonged opportunity in the side. Put simply, in an environment in which he needed to quickly learn about players it is no surprise he placed a burden on those he knew from his Burnley days. One of those was Dwight McNeil, who it was rumoured he had fallen out with before leaving Turf Moor. Both Dyche and McNeil publicly dismissed those claims and McNeil’s blistering form since Dyche’s arrival has backed up their denials of a fallout.

McNeil, alongside Doucoure, flourished under Dyche and between them the pair were involved in most of the goals that eventually kept the club up. McNeil’s match winner in the first minute against Brentford was hugely important but his performance in the 5-1 win at Brighton was the best individual display by an Everton player this season in a game that completely changed the landscape of the survival battle.

Trust was also key to Dyche’s approach to Calvert-Lewin, who missed 10 games with a hamstring issue after being withdrawn during the win over Arsenal. Dyche was aware of the importance to Everton of the striker and decided a change of approach to his rehabilitation was needed in order to build a sustainable recovery. Analysing data about his fitness in relation to statistics from when he was at his strongest played a key part, but so too did listening to Calvert-Lewin’s own thoughts on his body. And while interest turned to desperation as fans sought his return, Dyche had no problem deflecting from the issue in public to provide additional cover for his player.

Dyche only sought to discuss Calvert-Lewin’s fitness when it suited him – using his post-Fulham platform to hint at an imminent return as supporters struggled to come to terms with the performance they had just witnessed. Calvert-Lewin scored just once under Dyche and did not play in the final game due to another issue with his hamstring. But in the games he played – against Brighton and Leicester in particular – he was a crucial part of important performances.

Dyche’s approach was perhaps best summed up in the build up to the all-or-nothing game with Bournemouth. He was a pillar of calm who stuck to routine and refused to let the pressure force him to change plans. Asked what his final words to his players would be before the game, he said he would keep it “simple”. Dyche’s time at Everton has been underpinned by an approach based on simplicity, clarity and consistency. And it has been effective.

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