Sean Dyche will be Everton manager for the rest of the season. If not due to his performance, then due to a lack of other options. It is no secret that the Toffees are strapped for cash and in the middle of a takeover. With the Premier League profit and sustainability rules still looming the chances of a managerial change is near zero.
Sean Dyche Is The Toffees Best Chance At Staying In The Premier League
Is Sean Dyche The Issue At Everton
Everton’s struggles have long been from the top down. Since Farhad Moshiri’s takeover, the club has been on a downhill trajectory. Once competing for lower European spots, they now are fighting for survival every season.
Financial troubles caused two points deductions last year that the Toffees managed to survive. Through all of this instability, Dyche has kept them up in two consecutive campaigns.
Read More: Whatever Happened to James Rodriguez?
More so the recruitment of players has left a lot to be desired. Since Dyche’s appointment, the club has made a £62 million profit in the transfer market. With what funds have been provided only one true first-team player, Iliman Ndiaye, has made the permanent move to Goodison Park. Other players of note such as Beto, Youssef Chermiti and Tim Iroegbunam can be decent squad players with the last two seen as projects for the future.
Meanwhile, the team are still reliant on 38-year-old Ashley Young to cover both the left and right back positions. The manager has simply not had a chance to get the players he would like at his disposal.
Why Sean Dyche Can Keep Everton Up
Of the 30 teams relegated over the last 10 terms, only six have reached double digits in clean sheets. Being defensively astute is the best way to secure survival in the Premier League. Currently, the Toffees have four clean sheets, which is the fourth most in the league.
An inability to score goals has always been a criticism of Dyche’s pragmatic approach. The Toffees went goalless in November. But his tactics may not be as defensively minded as they seem.
In those three November fixtures, there were 64 shots on target from the team, with only 14 on target. It is clear that there is a finishing problem at Everton. This season they have the second worst shots on target to goal ratio as well as an underperformance on their expected goal total.
Read More: Jarrad Branthwaite Returns From Injury: Why He Will Turn Around the Everton Defence
This was something that plagued Everton for the majority of last season, outside of one particular run. In a six-game stretch through November and December last term they scored 13 goals, not the greatest goal-scoring run, but compared to the rest of th year it was a purple patch. In this run, they won five of those six games and it ultimately saved them from relegation.
While relying on such a run to avoid relegation is by no means a concrete method to stay in the Premier League, it is likely what they will need once again this season. If they keep creating chances, the law of averages suggests that a run should come.
Is The Grass Greener For Everton?
If Everton are to move on from the former Burnley manager, can they get a better replacement? Of the available managers, there are only a few who would consider this role. Names that are often floated are David Moyes and Gareth Southgate, neither of which should fill any fans with excitement.
The club returning to Moyes ten years after his departure would at best be a side step. Southgate is much the same, he last managed a club in 2009 and was just moved on from the England role in part due to his negative tactics.
With the Friedkin group takeover still looming and ongoing financial constraints the club will need to entrust Dyche for the remainder of the season.