Sean Dyche during the Premier League match between Burnley and Everton at Turf Moor on April 6, 2022.

Sean Dyche has fixed problem he identified at Everton back in 2022

As Burnley boss, Dyche questioned whether Everton's players knew how to win games. His criticism remained relevant until the good form that he is now overseeing

15 Dec 2023, 05:00 by Joe Thomas · Liverpool Echo

Sean Dyche has fixed problem he identified at Everton back in 2022

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The last time Everton went to Turf Moor, Sean Dyche said the Blues appeared to have lost the ability to win games.

His comments came as his Burnley side clinched a dramatic comeback win that pulled Frank Lampard’s Everton into a relegation battle it only narrowly won.

Just over 18 months later, Dyche is at the helm at Goodison Park and it is only now that the issue he identified has finally been addressed.

Three consecutive wins in London. Nine in 13 matches. Three just last week - his Everton side is making a habit of snatching victories. He believes that winning is a “learned skill”. If that is the case, recent results suggest he has been an effective teacher.

On the face of it, the context of Everton’s last trip to east Lancashire is echoed in this upcoming fixture - Burnley are hoping to get a win that would claw them toward Everton and potentially cause the Blues to start looking over their shoulder. They did that back in 2022, when twice Everton led through penalties from Richarlison before a second half comeback saw Burnley come out on top to secure a win that dragged the visitors into their orbit.

That was Everton’s seventh defeat in 10 matches and after the game, Dyche said: "I've been down there, I know what it's like and every season there have been tough patches for us. It's hard to explain, but sometimes you sense that a team might have lost how to win a game. I said to them at half time: 'I'm not sure these know how to win a game, away from home particularly.' I told them we've got to play on that mentality - we do it by playing forward with better quality and being more aggressive in our play.”

A lot has changed since then and Dyche will enter his old stomping ground and head to the away dressing room on Saturday afternoon as he approaches 12 months since taking over at Everton. His side, like the Everton of April 2021, is hovering just above the relegation zone. But that is only due to its 10 point deduction - Dyche's team would be entrenched in midtable were it not for that. The club is actually on a positive run of form that has persisted across several months and for the first time in a long time - certainly the first time since he made those comments as Burnley boss - Dyche's old claims about a club being unable to win can no longer be said to be true of the Blues. This, he believes, is because his search for sustained progress did not just focus on tactics but also mindset. It has taken time, but he thinks his players are starting to show they have taken his insight and approach on board.

He said: “When I got here I went: ‘Right, OK, how can we add that formula, those winning edges?’ It is not just tactics, it is not just quality, it is also the team feel of how you win games, the understanding and learning of how to win games - and I think it is a learned skill. Some clubs have got an incredible amount of players with unbelievable talent and therefore the likelihood is they are going to win some games. We have got real talent here but we have got to maximise that talent and I think what we are doing is bringing a formula to the way the team operate that is allowing them to begin to maximise individually and collectively and as you can imagine, if you are maximising, you are going to give yourself a way better chance of winning games and I think we are beginning to show that.”

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