Everton were flat, uninspired and hugely underwhelming last night against Crystal Palace.
They were a side there for the taking, without a permanent manager in the dugout and missing their three best players. Not only that, but they were visiting Goodison Park having claimed just a sole win in 2024.
And yet the hosts were left stunned when Jordan Ayew thundered home the opener after 66 minutes of abysmal football.
Ironically, the goal came during the Toffees’ best spell of the match, as they had come out in the second half with far more attacking impetus.
Sean Dyche has now sought to reveal exactly what he said to his players to inspire such a turnaround.
What Sean Dyche said to his Everton players at half time
Although it was hardly a revolutionary change from the first half, it still marked an upturn from that abhorrent opening 45. Albeit, things could hardly get worse.
Well, giving his blunt assessment of the match, the 52-year-old manager would tell Everton’s official website: ‘First half, we were off and they were a side with a new manager sitting in the ground. They had a bit of an edge about them – they played well, I thought. We weren’t miles off it, but we were off with the ball and we didn’t look brave. We were too timid and played backwards too much.
‘I spoke to them at half-time and said, ‘Look, the expectation changes when you play these games, you can feel it in the stadium’. You have to play up to that.
‘Second half we did more. I think we can still do more, but we asked more questions of the opposition. They scored a good goal with a clean strike, but it was a much better performance in the second half.
‘We were much braver in possession, calm when the crowd wanted blood and thunder – which I like, by the way. But sometimes you have to break down a banked-in unit and we did enough to get a point in the second half – thanks to a fine delivery and finish from Amadou.’
A truly abysmal first half for Everton
That first half was one of the poorest I can remember watching at Goodison Park, as the XI that Dyche sent out looked nervous and uncomfortable throughout.
Despite boasting the numerical advantage in the midfield they were last to every second ball, and yet in the rare periods when they had possession there was absolutely no movement, resulting in a turgid half where the ball more often than not was sent aimlessly up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Sideways and backwards and then Jordan Pickford went long. Rinse and repeat.
When Dyche was brought in, everyone knew what they were getting. There was a quiet resignation that the style of football might suffer in the pursuit of the requisite results to drag this team to Premier League safety.
However, it would be appreciated if he picked his moments to put out a more progressive side on occasion, especially at home against weakened opposition.
It would go a long way towards getting that ‘blood and thunder’ from the crowd early on and likely yield far more points at Goodison Park than they have garnered thus far from the season.
Regardless, that first half must now be used as the example of how not to start a football match if Everton and their players have any ambition of getting the crowd quickly on their side.
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