Perhaps 2-0 is the most dangerous scoreline in football after all.
For the second successive Premier League game, Everton saw a two-goal lead turn into a 3-2 defeat.
As the match slipped away from them again, Dyche and his players seemed almost powerless when it came to turning the tide.
This could have been a similar piece to the one written two weekends ago after the Bournemouth game — many of the same failings were on display — but Saturday’s defeat at Villa Park was not as dramatic as the Bournemouth match and far less out of the blue.
Where Bournemouth came as a shock to the system, there was a creeping inevitability about this latest loss.
Everton were never really in control against Aston Villa, not even at 2-0. Their lead had been opportunistic — a pleasing development, admittedly, for a side that so often lacks a clinical edge, but it came against the run of play.
Villa dominated throughout, knowing exactly where to probe and how to exploit their opposition. After half an hour, Dyche could not have complained if they were two behind rather than two ahead.
It is hard to control a game when you only have 27 per cent of the ball but one thing you absolutely should be is compact. That is how Dyche has built his reputation and how his teams are expected to play.
Yet Everton were too open, perhaps the most damning indictment of this team and its manager.
There were two glaring issues that Dyche never truly managed to get a grip of on Saturday.
Villa had space — loads of it — between the lines. Youri Tielemans, their central midfielder, ended the game with 34 final-third passes, 14 more than any other player in a Premier League game this season and level with the highest figure from the last campaign, set by Manchester City defender Ruben Dias against Crystal Palace in December 2023.
Villa repeatedly cut through easily with one pass, freeing their lively attackers against a sluggish and injury-hit Everton back line.
This is one of the pitfalls of Dyche’s setup. He plays with two midfielders, whereas most contemporaries use three or even four players. Opposition managers, certainly those as smart as Emery, know where the space is and how to create overloads. Morgan Rogers, notionally playing on the right, regularly drifted inside to pick up space behind Tim Iroegbunam.
Like Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, Emery also worked out that Everton are susceptible, particularly on their right flank, to balls into the channels.
Lucas Digne (as you can see in the map below, which shows the average position of his touches) was stationed almost as an auxiliary winger on Villa’s left…
… and took advantage of Dyche’s narrow defensive setup (next graphic) to create Ollie Watkins’ first goal and force Jack Harrison into an error for Watkins’ second.
More than two-fifths (43 per cent) of Villa’s attacks came down Everton’s problematic right side. Iraola used substitute Dango Ouattara in a similar role, with two of Bournemouth’s goals coming down that flank. Including Saturday, that is now four goals originating down Everton’s right in just two games.
Injuries, in fairness, have not been kind to Dyche at full-back. Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson both missed Saturday, while left-back Vitalii Mykolenko had to be substituted due to sickness.
Ashley Young, originally playing on the right, switched to the left after Mykolenko went off. James Garner, a central midfielder, came on at right-back. Jack Harrison and Jake O’Brien also had stints there as Dyche switched from 4-2-3-1 to 5-4-1 and then 4-4-2.
Everton’s weakness at full-back may well have been exploited whoever played. Coleman, 35, and Young, 39, are past their best and Patterson is yet to cement his position two and a half years after joining. Defending the flanks is quickly becoming an Achilles’ heel.
Structural problems have been exacerbated by personnel issues.
Iroegbunam, 21, has already played nearly three times as many Premier League minutes as he did for Villa in the entirety of last season.
Promising though he may be, there are times when it looks like too much, too soon for an inexperienced player in a crucial part of the pitch. His partnership with Idrissa Gueye is not offering Everton’s defence enough protection, while Jarrad Branthwaite’s ability to put out fires has also been sorely missed as he continues his recovery from an injury.
“Some of them are learning for the first time,” Dyche said. “Tim is learning as he goes. This is part of the reality and the challenge. It’s not just him, there’s enough experience to understand; to do the basics, the hard yards.”
It is possible that there is still a mental hangover from the Bournemouth defeat.
Dyche had minimal time with his players during the break to fix the issues that arose in that game, with some internationals only returning last Thursday.
Where he was plagued by inactivity against Bournemouth, he used all five substitutes at Villa Park, making a double change and switching system just after the hour at 2-2.
Dyche bemoaned two big misses from striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin — one when they led at 2-1 and the other while 3-2 down — but his side has become worryingly fragile.
Everton are just the second team in Premier League history to lose back-to-back games where they were up by two goals. The fourth-best defence in the league last season has now conceded 13 goals in their opening four games.
Solidity is meant to be Dyche’s calling card but games have become too chaotic and he is yet to find answers. They still do not look like a competent, competitive Premier League side and the responsibility ultimately lies with him.
“We’re making too many mistakes,” he admitted. “That’s something I’ll speak to the players about and that’s definitely my responsibility, among many things.
“Everyone has the answer after the event. My job is to get it right during the game and I’ve not got it right enough.”
(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
