“The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” – John Madden
It has not been easy for Everton over the last three seasons. That much is true, to be sure. After the departure of Don Carlo Ancelotti back to Madrid, the Blues brought in two bosses – Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard – who ultimately could not lead the team as the legendary Italian once did; to be fair, few can – no matter the side.
Dyche did that. He turned a team that had grown languid and soft under two mediocre managers into one that stayed in the Premier League once again, and looked to go into last season with room to grow and points to win.
But last season was – like Sean Dyche’s first half-season – not really fair to the boss. With the spectre of FFP points deductions and sanctions and with the spectre of the sale of Everton to the obviously shady 777 Partners, Sean Dyche took on his first entire season in charge, fully aware that his side could be docked points for behaviour completely out of any current player or coach’s control.
Without the eventual eight-point deduction across two separate proceedings, Everton would never have found themselves in the relegation battle once again last season; the side, instead, would have sat around the middle of the Premier League table – 12th as things finally stood – even with the bevy of injuries that the side suffered, and a winless streak that began in December and stretched well into 2024.
And so, here we find ourselves. Sean Dyche has a good, solid squad, has sold some players, has bought some players, and now enters his second full season in charge of the Toffees. No looming penalties. While the ownership question remains for Everton, the Friedkin Group does, as per reports, remain in play to purchase the club.
Sean Dyche, therefore – and finally – can reallyshow what he and this side are about. The team will have a stingy defensive record; it is, after all, what the side is built on and for. The boss demands it, and so it shall be.
No, the questions remain on the scoring side. Can this team, with familiar names like Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Youssef Chermiti, Jack Harrison, Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure, do better getting goals than they were able to last season? And can new names, like Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O’Brien, Tim Iroegbunam, and potentially still others, make the differences necessary to bring Everton back closer to where they belong?
