Sean Dyche is failing in key Everton task - I have a simple question for him to answer

My question to Sean Dyche is ‘why can’t you see what everyone else is seeing?’

In his press conference at Aston Villa, he joked that he’d watched the Bournemouth game 42 times and he was still convinced that it wasn’t about substitutions. The whole world, including every other pundit on television knows that Everton were fatigued and subs were needed.

Dyche said you didn’t see that, and we played well for 87 minutes but the balls inside were coming from the 80th minute and you took too long. Against Villa, the warning signs were there more or less from the kick-off.

You could say that you’ve gone to Aston Villa and the scoreline was a lot closer than I thought it would be and the home side won the game by a wonder goal but for me, the all-round play is making the game too difficult for us to get something out of a football match.

We should have packed the midfield and stopped the supply going forward. For me, that would have been braver from the manager to try and stop the problem at source, and we got a goal when we actually did that.

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Like I said in my column last week, while we know Amadou Onana’s strengths, we also know his weaknesses and that he takes liberties at times. Dwight McNeil saw that – brilliant – and took the goal well.

So let’s do it again. But no, we sat back and let them get into a rhythm.

I wanted to see a reaction from the players. I wanted to see a bit of fight and desire.

I also wanted to see whether the manager had learned his lesson from the game at Aston Villa last season.

We knew that getting beat wouldn’t define our season but given the run we’re on, we hoped the manage could find a solution to get something out of the game. At one point it was 84% possession for Aston Villa but Everton were 2-0 up but a lot of Evertonians were still thinking ‘this is going to feel like a long game now, can we hold on?’

Aston Villa played us off the park. The first two goals that we conceded were mistakes but I listened to Dyche’s comments after the game when he said every time we make mistakes we are getting punished but my question would be ‘why are people making mistakes?’

Is the set-up correct? Is it the mentality?

Players aren’t trying to make mistakes but they’re possibly getting forced to do things that they can’t do like Jack Harrison who could have held his line and try and keep them offside, but he tried to be honest and he just wanted to try and get anything on the ball. He got a touch and unfortunately it fell to Ollie Watkins.

If Dominic Calvert-Lewin had taken his chance and made it 3-1, would the feeling at Villa Park have changed? There seems to be a lack of belief in this side though.

As fans we have a lack of belief because we’re witnessing failures time and time again, we’re more hopeful. But the players are also showing a lack of belief.

The boys are working hard, it’s not for a lack of trying, but what is going wrong? I feel that Sean Dyche is failing to find solutions.

It didn’t help with Vitalii Mykolenko going off as we had to change personnel but then we seemed to panic. Dyche didn’t seem to know what to do.

We changed formations three times to try and hold out. While I understand it does work against certain sides when you try and have a back five – although it looked like a back seven at times – the forward line was not going to be the issue with Villa.

It’s the same as when we played them last season, it’s their midfield. We gave them the ball in the centre of the park and just allowed them to dictate, it was so easy for them to break through our midfield and that’s been an issue at Everton for quite a long period of time.

Without the ball, teams cut through us very easily. It was highlighted a lot publicly last season and Dyche must have known that’s what Villa like to try and do.

Not once did he seem to try and stop it but rather just went with a back five/seven and hoped they wouldn’t score. Ollie Watkins scored to but he might have had two or three more when chances were put on a plate for him while Jordan Pickford made a good save, so the goals were coming and the warning signs were there.

ANSWERS NEEDED: Joe Thomas' video reaction on YouTube

Michael Keane has got to be stronger. He was too soft, too naive, not trying to block the run or put Watkins off.

The Villa striker got there first because he was braver and wanted to win the ball more than Keane. My question though is ‘what is Pickford doing?’

Jordan has had a poor start to the season. I look at their goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez near the end, he’s anticipating crosses coming in, it’s obvious a cross is coming in so get yourself ready for it.

It wasn’t a whipped, fast-paced ball, it was a little clip to the back post. That’s got Jordan all over it, he’s got to go and get the ball.

If that was Martinez at the other end of the pitch, he’d have grabbed that and come and taken the danger away. Keane has got to win his header but we’re not helping each other.

Lucas Digne, the same as last season, had that whole side of the pitch to himself. Nobody is trying to stop the cross.

Coming for crosses has never been an area of strength for Jordan, it’s something he’s always been poor at. It’s inside your six-yard box, you’ve got to come and get that.

If I’m a centre-half, I’m screaming at the goalie ‘you’ve got to come and get this as I’m in trouble.’ There’s no communication there.

James Tarkowski and the rest of the back four, they were going into the fixture having conceded 10 goals in three games already so when they were getting overrun, they should talk to their midfield and tell them ‘come and protect me, I’m not playing well at the moment, I need help.’ The manager needs to take responsibility, you can’t just tell them that they need to do their job.

Football doesn’t always go your way, mistakes happen. It’s how you react to that.

It’s been a very poor start. It just makes every game coming up, bigger and bigger and bigger and the pressure builds.

That’s where players sink or swim because it looks like it’s going to be a long, hard fight of a season again.

Villa had belief but Dyche's problem-solving is failing

Look at Sean Dyche’s record away against the top six, they’ve never won. Why hasn’t he ever won?

Nottingham Forest went to Anfield and did it. Yes, it’s a freak result but how come they’ve got a bit of belief to think they can go and do something against a top quality side who are pushing for the title.

We seem to crumble when the first thing goes against us. We started brightly, got two goals, but as soon as Watkins netted his header, the Villa crowd knew they were going to go on and win the game but why is that mentality hanging over this football club?

It just feels like that same weak mentality and we’re here again. The fight seems to vanish very quickly when things go against us.

Who do you point the finger at? The players? Of course, they’ve got a job to do.

But I feel the manager is not helping the situation at times. He’ll pinpoint that we had a couple of opportunities but it’s not enough as you’re not going to score each one and if you’re counting Dom’s two then you’ve also got to count Villa’s three or four huge misses.

When it comes to problem-solving, Dyche seems to be failing for me. His in-game management feels wrong.

He tries to pick out the positive statistics to help his players. That’s fine, I get that, but when you look at the bad side of the stats, it’s alarming.

MORE FRUSTRATION: Chris Beesley's video reaction on YouTube

Ross Barkley came onto the pitch for 45 minutes and he had more touches than our entire midfield put together. Tim Iroegbunam and Idrissa Gueye, I think one had nine passes and the other had 12 but Ross had 43.

When you’re getting peppered, wave after wave after wave of attack, there are going to be mistakes, fatigue is going to set in because it’s constant pressure. They don’t get a breather because we can’t keep the ball for more than five or six passes.

It’s not like they’re Manchester City or Real Madrid. They’re a good set-up but not so long ago they were behind us.

They’re being coached well by a manager with an identity and have got a belief that their system works. It’s the total opposite to us as it feels like we don’t believe we can get results from our system and instead it’s hit and hope, huffing and puffing.

If you do that and you don’t get the points then you are going to get criticised for that. When there’s about six minutes to go, can someone please tell the players that we’re getting beat?

Can they put the ball in the box, can they go forward and try and do something before time runs out? There’s no urgency.

That was the contrast between the two sides. Villa really believed in their system, but we were panicking and didn’t know what to do, chopping and changing.

Up for the cup? Fringe players should be

Can Sean Dyche be braver in Everton’s Carabao Cup tie against Southampton?

In all my years doing the column, I’ve always said how I feel the League Cup is really important given where we are as a football club. Chelsea and Manchester City’s gradual climbs in English football started by winning the competition and that brings belief.

Some silverware in the trophy room tells everyone ‘that’s what we’re all about, winning things’ and brings the mentality to chase more. Jose Mourinho showed his players that they were winners by lifting the League Cup.

People tell me: ‘don’t bother about it because it’s only going to be the big boys winning it anyway’ but I’ve always pushed it for us as you’ve still got to have that belief. You’ve got to go for it.

Currently though, I think both sides could probably do without this game. Both of them have lost all of their Premier League matches so far.

The most-important thing for Everton Football Club this season is Premier League survival and staying in the top flight for the move to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The League Cup could prove a hindrance but at this stage it could be an opportunity for the players who just need minutes and some welcome game time.

Last season it was nice to have a cup run and when we went out on penalties there was a downwards spiral as the belief was sucked out of the club. As we know from David Moyes’ time, a good cup run puts smiles on people’s faces but I just feeling the timing of this in the last season at Goodison Park, we could probably do without it.

It’s a huge opportunity though for players who are scratching their heads, wondering why they can’t get in and what they need to do to get a chance in a team who are struggling so badly.

They’re always difficult games because of the chopping and changing and they’re not easy on the eye. If you’re disappointed that you’ve not been in the starting line-up, this is your time to shine.

Be ruthless, take no prisoners and do your job. It gives the manager something to think about.

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