Sean Dyche myth debunked as Everton did something to Spurs that no others have done

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Tactical snobbery is a notion that has become increasingly prevalent in the modern game, particularly when it comes to Everton’s style of play.

Under Sean Dyche, it is expected that they will constantly seek to go long, aimlessly pumping the ball into the box and thriving off set pieces.

And whilst much of that is true, there are so many other facets to their style that set them apart from the archaic sides to which they are compared.

After all, there is not just one set way to win a football match, and yesterday proved that as they went toe-to-toe with fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, and arguably should have claimed all three points.

One statistic has since emerged to debunk this long-held myth that continues to pollute Dyche’s stellar managerial record.

What did Everton do vs Spurs that no other Premier League side has this season?

It is often quite funny the speed with which lazy conclusions can be debunked by statistics.

And whilst they do not always tell the full story, on this occasion, it is irrefutable. Everton pressed Spurs to death, and arguably should have had far more to show for it than just two goals.

Journalist Paddy Boyland would detail this in his article for The Athletic, simply stating: ‘Led by the indefatigable Idrissa Gueye (16 recoveries in total) and James Garner (11 recoveries), they regained possession 18 times in the final third against Tottenham: the most of any side in a Premier League game this season.

‘You have to go back to Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Norwich in February 2020 for the last time a top-flight outfit managed as many.’

Why is Sean Dyche always stereotyped?

‘People put you in boxes. That’s life,’ Dyche would tell the High Performance Podcast during his period out of the game after leaving Burnley.

It is an easy stereotype to have with this 52-year-old bald tactician from Kettering, who enjoyed his playing days as a bruising central defender, but oh so wrong.

His teams are far from the one-dimensional hoof ball side many assume they are, and it feels like this lazy notion only emerges from Premier League teams left frustrated not to have brushed aside his stubborn Everton outfit.

Well, Spurs were lucky to even come away with a point yesterday, given they amassed a mere 0.98 expected goals to the hosts’ 2.62. In the end, a 2-2 draw was the end result.

And whilst a last-minute winner might suggest the Toffees ‘scraped a result’, the match was anything but.

Yet nobody complains that Ange Postecoglou’s side, who enjoyed 57% of possession, went nowhere with their passes and created relatively little outside of the goals.

Football is a game of opinions, and in the end, nobody is ever truly right.

The only thing that cannot be refuted is that, as aforementioned, there is more than one way to win a football match. Just because Dyche doesn’t fit the status quo of these young upstarts who want to revolutionise the game does not make him a villain.