The beginning of the 2024/25 campaign for Everton has been "shit" for all intents and purposes. The one win in the Carabao Cup has been the only positive moment for this club this season. There's been many reasons for fans of the club to be upset and the calls for manager Sean Dyche to be fired might be justified, but Dyche isn't the problem and firing him isn't going to solve anything. If anything, firing Dyche would actually have a negative impact on the Toffees at this point unless the situation becomes so dire.
There have been back-to-back games in the Premier League competition where Everton has held a 2-0 lead to only lose it 3-2. That's unacceptable. Sure, Dyche is the easiest person to put the blame on, but he has shown the last couple of seasons how quality of a manager he is especially last season as this team should've finished higher than they did if the points deduction wasn't a factor. With the results the last couple of years the club has shown under his direction, ownership has to give enough time to right the ship until it becomes clear a change is needed. Dyche's tactics has shown under Everton and Burnley that there is fight in his side. So what's the problem?
Dyche loves to employ a 4-4-2, though he's had to employ something different with Everton simply because he has to. Dyche is a defensive minded coach, but his attacking tactics does allow the club to shoot a lot. The xG rate last season for the club was 54.9. Some of the other notable statistics last season was 533 open play crosses, 14 per game. They also were top of the league with 2,388 long passes, 62.8 per match. So essentially, this squad should score a lot. So what exactly is the problem? That is a harder question to answer.
Dyche's ability to show the type of success quite like he has shown that if a club with money for him to get the players he needs to win probably means a much better results. He hasn't been that lucky dealing with situations with getting players who fits his situations as he's usually leading a side that is constantly leading them out of relegation battles. But, last season should PROVE what he CAN do as a manager. So a bad sequence of results no matter how bad it has been should not be the deciding factor as to whether he should be the manager or if he should be fired.
What could be a good argument is how he is employing his club this season thus far, but again, Dyche has been dealt an unfair hand especially with some serious injuries that hampers him. Jarrad Branthwaithe is a central cog to his backline and Branthwaithe's groin injury hampers things a lot considering his size and form from last season. Not Dyche's fault that his star defender cannot play. But players like Youssef Chermiti, Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson, and Armando Broja are also injured which might affect a lot too.
The fact of the matter is that this club on paper should be a midtable side regardless. By December/January and the team is in this same position then there could be a great reason to call for him to be fired. That being said, let the team in the mean time get healthy and then predicate whether if Dyche should be fired or not. It seems like Dyche is not the problem as his tactics seem right, plus he's making the right substitutions despite how things have transpired in these losses. It's easy to point the blame on the head coach, why not the players? These players are being tasked to handle their duties when being asked to come on the field and if they aren't executing, that's on them, not Dyche. And that's why managers are scape goats. If Dyche wants to hold himself accountable though, then great and that takes all the pressure off the players thus allowing them to play freely which should allow them to perform better.
That being said, Dyche needs to be the solution here and change things up. Whether it's his formation, his tactics, or whom he employs on match day, something has to change. Dyche is a very smart coach and he will adapt when needed, but if he wants to keep this club afloat let alone save this team from being relegated then Dyche needs to figure things out quickly.
The backline would be incredibly solid if Brainwaithe, James Tarkowski, and Jake O'Brien are all healthy as they are all 6'5" or taller and that's a difficult backline to get around, plus having the experience and solid output from Coleman makes that them so good. Maybe putting in Vitaliiy Myokolenko, Patterson, Michael Keane, Reece Dixon, or Ashley Young late in the matches to defend the hell out of the goal could help. Then in situations when a goal is needed, bringing on both Beto and Chermiti late in the attacking forward situation might be essential. Then whom you decide to start, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Armando Broja, Jack Harrison, Tim Iroegbunam, Dwight McNeil, Orel Mangala, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Idrissa Gueye, Jesper Lindstrom, Illiman Ndiaye, and James Garner, you have to get creative with whom you play and substitute. All things predicate how you matchup against the opposing side and whatever the situation dictates. How Dyche employs things is unknown, but this should be enough talent to not have points on the table at this point.
So essentially the title of the article says a lot, while he may not be the problem Dyche has to be the guy to figure it out. It almost seems like a cultural problem that Everton is always in this predicament. Dyche's formation and tactics have proven to be successful, but he would have much better results if the money is there. Everton's financial woes is not Dyche's fault, but he had to navigate the waters. He's even explicitly has explained there is no more money for them to spend, so that is essentially has been Dyche's way of saying that whatever happens this year he is taking accountability for the results no matter how much it is not his fault.
That being said, if you fire Dyche, whom do you hire? Is the next guy going to lead them to stay above relegation? Are the guys that are on the team going to fit this next manager's system well? There's a lot of risk firing Dyche, but he needs to be the guy to fix the problems out. While it is unfortunately financial woes thats has the man in this positions, Dyche HAS to prove he's the man to lead the charge to not only Premier League survivability, but to lead this team into the new stadium.
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