Sean Dyche has now claimed that most Everton fans believe the Toffees have ‘played really well’ despite them being 16th in the Premier League table after eight matches.
The Goodison Park outfit moved three points clear of the drop zone after beating their likely relegation rivals AFC Bournemouth on Saturday. Goals by James Garner (8’), Jack Harrison (37’) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (60’) gave Everton the win. It was their second win this term.
It was also only their third win at Goodison Park since February having taken three points at Brentford in September. While beating Bournemouth yielded a third of Everton’s nine goals for the season. They had also scored against Sheffield United (2), the Bees (3) and Luton (1).
Everton are facing another relegation fight under Sean Dyche
Everton rank mid-table for goals scored (11th) and conceded (9th), having allowed 12 across eight games, under Dyche this season. The Toffees had scored fewer (7) but conceded less (7) over eight fixtures under Frank Lampard last season to secure two wins and four draws.
Lampard struggled to get Everton firing during their following eight fixtures, either, to fall to 17th in the table. The Merseyside natives only won one further match and drew one, whilst scoring five goals to 12 conceded. Dyche will now hope to avoid any sort of repeat this term.
Sean Dyche believes the Goodison faithful have been impressed
Another poor start to this season has left Everton facing a potential third-straight relegation battle. Lampard and Dyche kept the Blues afloat in the last games of the 2021/22 and 22/23 campaigns. Yet Dyche believes that most Everton fans believe the Toffees have played well.
“I’m very pleased the players keep pushing the boundaries and barriers to get the story to change,” Dyche told EvertonTV. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, of course. I was glad the fans got a reward against Bournemouth because they’ve been terrific.
“I think most Evertonians believe we have played really well. But you’ve got to win games. I’ve said to the players, ‘You have got to win games, you have to find that winning edge’. It was obviously on show against Bournemouth on Saturday with some of the finishing.”
There is some merit to Dyche’s claim that Everton have played well at points this season but not consistently enough. Everton might have only scored nine goals but have attempted 429 shots through their eight games. Only 11 sides have attempted more so far, per WhoScored.
The Toffees further rank 11th for shots on target with 152. Doucoure accounts for the most among those with 10 to Arnaut Danjuma (6), Garner and even Neal Maupay (4). Dyche will want to see Beto join that group soon with his star signing directing just one of 13 on target.
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