The bulk of Everton's squad return to Finch Farm today to begin their preparations for the 2023/24 campaign. But which of them will benefit the most from a full pre-season under Sean Dyche? We’ve asked three members of the ECHO sportsdesk for their choices.
Chris Beesley - James Garner
A bit of a cheat here because he’s not quite going to get a full pre-season under Sean Dyche because he’s been busy representing England at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship but I’m hoping this could be a breakthrough campaign for James Garner.
‘Jimmy’, as the Blues boss likes to call him, has been playing catch-up almost ever since he first came through the entrance door at Finch Farm on transfer deadline day of last summer’s window. His exploits under former Goodison Park fans’ favourite Lee Carsley for the Young Lions in Georgia – alongside Jarrad Branthwaite, the Everton centre-back who spent last term on loan at PSV – will mean it’s another late start for him. But rather than arriving back rusty and lacking in match fitness, this time he should be sharp and raring to go.
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Garner didn’t kick a ball in the Premier League until the ninth game of last season when he came off the bench to make his Blues bow against his previous employers Manchester United and curiously it wasn’t until the latter stage of Dyche’s ninth match at the helm that he again made a late cameo as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur.
During the run-in, he kept £33.5million signing Amadou Onana out for a clutch of games and then demonstrated his commitment to the cause in Everton’s last two fixtures when options were limited in several key areas as he was deployed as a right-winger and then wing-back against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth. The lad from Birkenhead gives the side a different passing dimension when he’s on the pitch and with Dyche now more aware of just what he’s capable of, this could be his time to shine.
Matt Jones - Nathan Patterson
For Everton's best interests, it would of course be most helpful if Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the man who benefitted most from Sean Dyche's robust pre-season regiment - it would be a shame, after all, if the manager checking the forward's car and sleeping habits to find an answer was all for nothing.
But Everton's squad is scattered with players who have endured fitness problems in recent seasons and the man who is potentially second in the frustration stakes to Calvert-Lewin is Nathan Patterson.
The Scotland international's time on Merseyside has been punctured by a succession of issues, setting back the steps forward he has made with some encouraging performances on the field.
Last season Patterson was arguably Everton's best player in the early weeks of the campaign before injury struck on international duty. Then when he returned late in the season, he was excellent in the 5-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, offering a reminder of what he is capable of before injury struck again.
With Seamus Coleman agreeing a new deal recently, Patterson does have a fight on his hands to wrestle the starting right-back spot back off the veteran. He has shown enough in his Everton career so far to suggest he is capable of doing so, although the basis for him winning any battle with the club captain needs to be a better fitness record.
A strong pre-season under Dyche can hopefully be a springboard for it.
Paul Wheelock - Dominic Calvert-Lewin
If Evertonians needing any reminding of what a fully fit and firing Dominic Calvert-Lewin can bring to the team then it came in a game in which he did not even score. His performance in the first half of the wonderfully surprising 5-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion was a masterclass in the art of centre-forward play. It was downright cruel then that less than two weeks later he picked up another injury that ruled him out of the last-day decider with Bournemouth. He really did not deserve that after playing the long game, on the advice of Sean Dyche, to get back into prime condition.
It's clear that Everton's No.9 is desperate to stay fit - the fact that he started his summer break by heading to Germany to the renowned MYOS Sports & Health clinic is testament to that. What Calvert-Lewin needs now is some long overdue good luck. Hopefully the news that he's about to become a father is the start of that.
Because if he can steer clear of new knocks and injuries, there was enough evidence, even when he was on the sidelines, that he can become a huge asset for the Blues once more under Dyche. Most supporters would have expected the former Burnley boss to have really tightened things up at the back after replacing Frank Lampard. And while all but one of the five vital victories Dyche achieved were done so with a clean sheet - the aforementioned thumping of Brighton - I would say he actually improved Everton offensively more so than defensively. Much more so than under Lampard, the Blues under Dyche flooded the box and put the type of deliveries into the box that Calvert-Lewin thrives on.
Yes, Dyche needs to bring in at least one, but ideally two, strikers this summer. But if - and sadly, for now, it is if - Calvert-Lewin can stay fit throughout the summer and spend the entirety of pre-season working with Dyche and his team, then I truly believe Everton could become a different preposition in 2023-24.
