Everton are not a side that prides themselves on their squeaky-clean on-pitch performances, but for the most part, the players are ones that the fans can be proud of nowadays.
There is seldom any blatant cheating that comes from them, which is a position almost certainly enforced by the ‘old-school’ Sean Dyche.
He takes no foolishness from his playing staff, and has likely sought to drag out any unnecessary flair and frustrating faux injuries from them as soon as possible.
They are steely, hard-working and relentless now, and quite clearly built in his image.
And now, the 52-year-old is calling on FIFA to do more to police those who bend the rules.
What Sean Dyche is issuing FIFA to do
Speaking to The Times just yesterday, the former Burnley boss is a man renowned for his no-nonsense principles that brought about unbridled success at Turf Moor.
Now seeking to transfer that success to Everton, his side are growing into an outfit that the fanbase can relate to after years of disconnect between the players and fans.
Dyche feels like more can be done to further restore that bond though, and that the governing bodies could be doing more to ensure football does not continue to deviate from what once made it so popular.
He noted: ‘It’s a great game, so many good things, but we are losing our soul.
‘There are eight billion people on the planet and four billion access the Premier League and yet they are seeing too much cheating. Why are Uefa and Fifa not dealing with this?’
The Everton boss makes a good point about the growing cheating problem
Whilst cheating might seem like a loud, offensive and grand accusation, in football, it can apply to many different things.
So often these are minor advantages too, which when added up provide the crucial difference to decide matches.
Throughout history, managers have been desperate to claim the edge over their opponents, particularly at the top end of football, with Jose Mourinho arguably the most famous of those who would bend the rules to their advantage.
And nowadays, things like feigning injury to slow down play, time-wasting, holding one’s head to force the game to stop and gaining yards and new angles from set pieces are all forms of eluding the rules to boost the odds of winning.
As Dyche says, it is something that must be forced out as soon as possible, or else see the younger generation emulate these tactics, polluting the long-term future of football.
Once a sport where people would take hefty collisions and get straight back up, nowadays players are rolling around, writhing with fake anguish in an effort to hoodwink the referee.
Frustratingly enough, it often works too.
FIFA, UEFA, the FA and the Premier League must all combine to make sure that the next generation is not ruined by the growing cheating problem of today.
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