Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Goodison Park ahead of Everton’s trip to Ipswich Town
These next five games are a real test for Sean Dyche to show that he can get the best out of this group of players. December looks really tough on paper but before then we’ve got fixtures that all look winnable and I’d be expecting to get points from each one of them.
I think Dyche needs to in order to get the fans on his side a bit more. We understand the difficulties he’s been under but if we don’t do the business throughout the rest of October and November then the pressure is going to be on so this is a massive period for the manager.
We need to put these games to bed by playing some football and doing the basics right. Most of all, let’s not let our opponents settle.
Ipswich Town have enjoyed back-to-back promotions and with them being back in the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, they’re probably loving every moment and seeing all the big teams coming back to Portman Road. They’re going to be up for it but let’s make sure we control the game and why we’re Everton Football Club and that comes through the players taking responsibility.
The lads have turned a corner now because they’re unbeaten in three and we’re going in the right direction, albeit very slowly. I feel these next few games are very important for Dyche’s future and how the feeling is going to be throughout the Everton fanbase for the rest of the season.
The start to this season has been similar to a year ago but this season we’ve had opportunities to win games whereas as early on last year, I was struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel with a series of soft defeats.
Every game is difficult in the Premier League but whatever era you’re talking about, you’d expect to be able to beat an Ipswich Town or a Southampton. While we’ve sometimes been able to raise our game against the big teams, but we’ve not always had the same kind of mentality when facing those who are in and around us.
I remember our last away win at Burnley 10 months ago and we started in a very sluggish way. We were a bit shaky but after we went ahead, the pressure was off our shoulders, and we started to play a little bit and enjoyed the rest of the game.
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