Sean Dyche is a fighter. He will explore every opportunity available to make Everton as competitive as this group of players can be. It is now down to the players to show they are willing to fight too.
We know they can. We saw what they are capable of as recently as the Arsenal game when they outplayed as well as outfought the Premier League leaders.
But at Anfield on Monday the performance was frustratingly bereft of the passion and intensity that provided the foundation for the win on Dyche’s debut in the home dugout at Goodison Park. Idrissa Gueye has since acknowledged his side should have fought “harder” in the follow-up defeat to Liverpool.
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He said Dyche was of the same opinion and made that clear at half-time. Yet it was not until the brawl that erupted in the 86th minute that Blues fans were provided with any substantial evidence those on the pitch shared their hurt.
That cannot be the case against Leeds, nor for the rest of the season. Today’s game is set to be a major test that will provide Dyche with some of his most telling lessons from his time on Merseyside to date. After the defeat to Wolves on Boxing Day it was clear Frank Lampard was under pressure. At Manchester City days later the players fought for him to earn a valuable point and raise hopes going into the new year. When defeat to Brighton left Lampard on the brink, they again produced a passionate display in Manchester days later, though they ultimately lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round.
When Dyche arrived and the supporters were desperate for a sign Everton’s fate lay in the club’s own hands, they again turned it on for the occasion. They can do it.
Everton’s problems, though, have been the times they have not turned up. Too many big games have produced lacklustre performances. It was not just Liverpool on Monday. Think Wolves, Brighton, Southampton and West Ham since Christmas. Think of Leicester City and the games at Bournemouth that started the run of form that saw the Blues plummet to the relegation zone.
What this group of players needs to show Dyche and the supporters is that they can get themselves up for every match and not just the extreme occasions when a manager the group may like is in need of saving, or when a new boss is looking on and judging for the first time. Can they play with desire, passion and intensity for each - or failing that, most - of the remaining 16 games?
What should help the players against Leeds, and then Aston Villa seven days later, is the support they will get at Goodison. The world of football saw the power the supporters had to drag a struggling team to safety last season. That safety net should not be necessary for a second consecutive season but, sadly, it is.
Whatever is happening off the pitch - and there will be another demonstration against the board’s running of Everton before kick-off alongside more questions over whether the directors will be present for the first time since Brighton - the players can count on the best of support from the crowd at Goodison. The passion will be clear within the stands. It will be clear within the dugout. It must be clear on the pitch.
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