Sean Dyche has fixed problem he identified at Everton back in 2021

In his capacity as Burnley’s manager, Dyche questioned Everton’s players’ ability to win games. His critique was pertinent up until the point at which he started supervising the good form.

Sean Dyche remarked that Everton seemed to have lost their ability to win games the last time they visited Turf Moor.

His remarks coincided with Burnley’s stunning victory that forced Frank Lampard’s Everton into a relegation battle that it nearly avoided.

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 2021, 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 need to make the most of our true talent, which is what we believe we are doing by introducing a formula to the

how the group functions, which is enabling them to start realizing their potential both individually and collectively. As you can understand, if you are

By maximizing, you will significantly increase your chances of winning games, and I believe we are starting to demonstrate that.

Sean Dyche has fixed problem he identified at Everton back in 2021

Sean Dyche has fixed problem he identified at Everton back in 2021

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