The slow, wearisome trudge towards Everton’s new dawn continues. It is hoped better times are indeed ahead for a club that has spent the past couple of years suffering and straining to survive, but first, they need to get there.
Right now, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Sean Dyche and his side are heading for trouble.
Boos rang around an increasingly tetchy Goodison at the end of Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Brentford, a game in which Everton had a player advantage for 56 minutes including additional time but could not muster enough quality to win.
The Friedkin Group’s takeover is on the horizon, but patience is wearing thin on the terraces. Going to the game has become a chore for many, something to bear rather than enjoy. Supporters have seen too many games of this ilk this season and most have resorted to wishing away Goodison’s final campaign, a grim indictment of their predicament. Matches seem to bleed into one amorphous blob. At this stage, press conferences do, too.
It is now three games without a goal for Dyche’s side. They have found the net just three times in their last six; 10 in their opening 12 games.
Even 12 months ago, the former Burnley manager was able to point to a positive expected goals (xG) totals, a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal, as evidence things should get better if only they could brush up on their finishing. Now, he will be unable to find the same solace in the numbers.
Twelve games in, Everton’s xG is just 13 — barely more than one goal’s worth of chances per match. There may be a problem with finishing, but there is an even bigger one with creativity.
Yet this is not just about entertainment — or a lack of it — even if that is part of it. Fans will tolerate pragmatic football as long as it yields results. The problem is, as even Dyche admitted, Everton are not winning enough.
A total of 11 points from their opening 12 games would always be a worry, but it is even more so here given their first 10 were considered among the most favourable in the league.
It is about to get much tougher and the three-point gap to the relegation zone does not seem like nearly enough before matches against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City next month.
So this was another huge opportunity squandered and one they simply could not afford to waste against 10 men. Dyche knew it, calling the result “disappointing” and admitting his side had not done enough. His players did, too, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jarrad Branthwaite among those to slump to the turf at full time.
The pressure is building on all of them, but Dyche most of all.
This was a game that showed his limitations in full light. He felt Everton were better before Christian Norgaard’s 41st minute sending off and he was right.
By their own admission, Dyche’s Everton are more effective when they have less of the ball and are set up accordingly. When the onus is on them to break down a side that has retreated, they lack solutions or a coherent blueprint.
Only twice since Dyche arrived in January 2023 have Everton won a game in which they have had the majority of possession. Faced with Brentford’s low block, it was hard to discern clear patterns of play, even if they did try to vary their play more than in some recent games.
Dyche correctly noted on several occasions that Everton lack the purchasing power of many of their peers, but it is on him to find a way through and all too often his side come up short when they cannot just batter down the door. A viable Plan B is yet to be forged.
Everton moved Ndiaye to a more central role at half-time but dispensed with that idea when they went two up top following the arrival of Beto on 72 minutes. The Senegal forward switched from the right to the left late on, his manager seemingly gesticulating for him to ‘drive inside’ into the box, allowing Dwight McNeil to come inside on his stronger left foot from the opposite flank.
Everton peppered the box with crosses, as they often do in such moments, but found little joy against a lofty Brentford side among the best in the league at dealing with such a threat. They had 27 shots but finished with an xG comparable to the 10 men. Maybe some of this is player quality. The biggest difference-makers in the final third do tend to cost the most money, but some of it seems like tactics and scheme, too.
Goodison grew frustrated at another long-standing Dyche trend: his unwillingness to turn to the bench. “What are you f*****g waiting for,” was the cry from one supporter midway through the second half. It seemed Brentford, even with 10 men, sensed an opportunity first, with the imminent arrival of forwards Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago seemingly prompting Dyche to turn to his bench.
The reaction at the end, from players and fans alike, told a story of frustration. After a bad weekend of results, including Wolverhampton Wanderers’ surprise win away to Fulham, the gap to the relegation zone is now just three points. Saturday’s draw doesn’t particularly help Dyche or Everton.
Everton have the lowest points total of any Premier League side to have played the full complement of games in 2024 — 25 points from 30 matches, at an average of 0.83 points per game. Extrapolate that record over 38 matches and it makes a meagre 31.5 points.
Dyche does not yet seem in immediate danger. There will be those internally who will no doubt point to the run of one defeat in eight and improved defensive performances as a sign things are slowly improving.
Meanwhile, the voices of disquiet around them are getting louder.
(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
