What a difference six days makes.
In the closing stages of Sunday’s game against Nottingham Forest, “We love you Everton” rang around Goodison Park. Players who had been heavily criticised less than a week earlier at Stamford Bridge were applauded off the Goodison pitch by the thousands of fans who had stayed behind to celebrate with their team.
“Spirit of the Blues”, the popular anthem that has marked many an important moment in the club’s recent history, blared once more to mark another key victory — one that takes them five points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand.
Was this the sign that nature was healing? In truth, it is almost certainly too early to tell, but it was a big step forward in terms of securing safety and a far cry from last Monday’s 6-0 capitulation against Chelsea — described as a “horrible result and performance” by Everton manager Sean Dyche.
The final stages of last Monday’s game had played out in front of a near-empty away section, with Dyche also taking the unusual step during the week of publicising key details of frank talks held with his squad in the aftermath. In essence, the former Burnley manager told his players he wouldn’t allow them to throw him under the bus and that he was planning to stay and fight.
Unconventional, perhaps, but the situation demanded a response and he got one.
“I held my hands up and the team held their hands up,” Dyche explained after Sunday’s 2-0 win against Forest. “The reaction was important and we got one with the performance, also with the fight and the will. It was pleasing to get two goals from open play, albeit from distance.”
The fall-out from the Chelsea game had prompted some soul-searching from Dyche and his staff. In the build-up to Forest, they “analysed everything”, from training plans to how they deliver information. For the first time in his managerial career, Dyche also dispensed with his usual matchday attire of suit and tie and chose instead to wear a tracksuit.
“I spoke to my staff first saying, ‘We question everything and everyone, but it’s also to question ourselves’. Not so much about the suit but the stuff behind that — the training ideas, the feedback to the players, tactical plans, the team side. I made changes to the side.
“There was no drama to it, only a personal choice. I’ve always thought it was correct to wear a shirt and tie but thought, ‘Let’s see if it makes a difference’. By no means am I making out that wins you a game, but I thought I’d play a small part in the changes I was asking for from my staff and players.”
(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Dyche made four changes in personnel to the team that started on Monday, notably changing his central midfield duo and switching formation. James Garner and Amadou Onana, hooked at half-time at Stamford Bridge with Dyche bemoaning a lack of tackling and combative edge, made way for Idrissa Gueye and Andre Gomes. His usual 4-4-1-1 became 4-1-4-1, with Gueye sitting deeper and Gomes and Abdoulaye Doucoure pushed high as dual No 8s.
There were moments in both halves where Everton showed a lack of quality, but this time the effort could not be questioned.
Most of Dyche’s big decisions paid off. Gueye, the unlikely scorer of the game’s first goal — only his second goal from outside the box in 100 attempts in the Premier League — added composure and bite in midfield. “(He was) very good, especially his understanding of the game and situation,” Dyche said of the Senegalese.
Gueye made eight ball recoveries, won five of his six ground duels and completed 34 of his 39 passes at a success rate of 87 per cent. Dyche’s introduction of James Garner and Beto on 67 minutes helped wrestle back the initiative after sustained Forest pressure, with Dwight McNeil scoring the clincher soon after. Jack Harrison, meanwhile, worked tirelessly after being recalled to the side on the right wing, often doubling up to support full-back Ashley Young against the pacy Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Everton still had to ride their luck. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made a sprawling stop to deny Chris Wood from close range shortly after Gueye’s opener, with Morgan Gibbs-White curling wide in the second half when clean through. Forest were also incensed by the decision to turn away three penalty appeals, all involving Young.
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But this was a reversal in trend from the usual pattern at Goodison, where Everton have largely created better chances than their opponents but struggled to get over the line. Before the weekend, no side in Europe’s top five leagues had lost more home league matches than them (34) over the past four seasons.
This time, the bounces of the ball and refereeing calls went in their favour. Their two goals on Sunday, both from range, had a combined xG of 0.06. Dyche would probably argue that is long overdue.
“A big, important win but we still have work to do,” the Everton manager noted.
Survival has not been secured just yet, but after the gloom of recent weeks and a run of one win in 15, Everton finally have some breathing space and the chink of light the whole club has been craving.
(Top photo: Dwight McNeil by Alex Livesey via Getty Images)
