£20m star told he was ‘lucky’ to see his Everton career revived by Sean Dyche

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The sign of any great manager is their ability to improve those around them, with that having been made abundantly clear at Everton of late.

Despite making minimal changes to the squad that Frank Lampard and Rafa Benitez cultivated, who turned the Toffees into relegation strugglers, Sean Dyche has managed to forge a system that fits their best attributes and is now reaping the rewards.

A run of nine wins in their last 13 across all competitions has been unheard of in recent years, having won their last three in a row in the Premier League whilst keeping three clean sheets too.

This is with a starting side only narrowly altered from seasons gone by, as if to boost his credibility as a top coach.

Many narrow-minded football enthusiasts like to put the 52-year-old in a box regarding his philosophy and play style, with some branding his ideals archaic. However, its effectiveness is proving a vital factor in Everton’s comfortable navigation of the toughest sanction in the division’s history.

Vitaliy Mykolenko is one of the key examples of the miracles Dyche has worked, with BBC journalist Dave Downie even speaking on The Blue Room about how close the Ukrainian likely came to a Goodison Park exit.

He noted: ‘Well, he has been quite lucky that he’s been maintained as a left back there, to actually get games at the time. I think a lot of people including myself would go back, a year, 18 months, not expecting much from the left-back.

‘Bog standard left-back, probably even less, so many people would have said, and I think there’s an irony to it because we probably didn’t sign an additional left-back because of the financial situation. I think he’s definitely one we would have changed had we had a chance, but since then, by hook or by crook, the lad is playing at left back and it just looks like it looks like everything comes so easy to him at the moment.’

How good is Vitaliy Mykolenko playing for Everton?

What makes Mykolenko’s recent form so impressive is how different it is to to his start to life at Everton, joining for £20m during one of the lowest points in the club’s history.

With the fanbase completely devoid of any spirit, having seen their enthusiasm drained by Benitez, the 24-year-old almost acted as a lightning rod for such frustrations given he remained following the dismissal of the Spaniard.

It seemed like, with every passing week, the left-back was struggling to contain his opposition winger whilst offering nothing going forward.

Well, those are both assets of his game completely altered for the better, with the latter having even shocked one pundit just last month.

With a 7.15 average rating in the league, the third-highest within Everton’s squad, such a figure is buoyed by his two goals alongside 3.6 tackles, three clearances and 6.1 ball recoveries per game, via Sofascore.

Although he may have been lucky to survive in the starting side for as long as he did, such faith is finally paying dividends, with Dyche once again the man to thank.