Wayne Rooney has identified Sean Dyche as the one man that has impressed him at Everton.
Speaking to The Athletic, the DC United boss claimed that Dyche has done a good job since joining the Toffees, while he was less impressed with some of the players.
Born in Liverpool, Rooney spent around nine years with Everton in total before ending his playing career in 2021. The 37-year-old joined DC United’s coaching staff last summer, however he has still had time to keep up with the previous Premier League season.
“It’s a club that has clearly been broken over the last few years and they don’t seem to have got it right off the pitch, which is having an impact on the pitch,” Rooney told The Athletic.
“The players have to do better — they’ve got some really good players and they’re underachieving through the quality of the squad. They got a bit of luck to get through the last two years and still be in the Premier League.
“Sean Dyche has done a good job. Hopefully he can steady the team and club. The stadium is coming and there needs to be some change to try and get that club back to where we all know it can be.”
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Rooney left Goodison Park with the club finishing in 8th place back in 2018, with the likes of Jordan Pickford, Idrissa Gueye and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all playing alongside him.
Despite heaping praise on Dyche, the former attacker has also admitted he would love to manage Everton one day – a prospect he would need to work for given his lack of experience in the top flight.
Everton need another Wayne Rooney
It’s been a long time since Everton had a player like Wayne Rooney burst on the scenes from their academy. Of course, it is extremely unlikely that anyone will come close to Rooney’s quality on Finch Farm, but someone to excite the fans would be beneficial.
Ross Barkley was the next bright spark to take to the Goodison Park pitch and it would have been interesting to see what wonders he could have performed if he hadn’t joined Chelsea five years ago.
Similarly, Anthony Gordon’s potential is no longer of any interest to the Everton faithful after his controversial move to Newcastle United in January.
The Toffees need excitement and Sean Dyche needs a lot more quality to work with next season.