Sean Dyche is already aware of the biggest problem left to solve in order to take Everton forward.
A mistake cost Everton a vital win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Abdoulaye Doucoure giving the ball away cheaply for the move that ended with Brennan Johnson’s late equaliser. Dyche will feel every error is being punished at this crucial stage in the season but is keen to find a solution.
Whether he can or not will go a long way to influencing Everton’s fate but he is at least aware of it - having highlighted publicly the five mistakes that have hurt his team since his appointment.
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Dyche had already discussed the errors that had undermined displays since his appointment in the pre-match press conference at Finch Farm on Friday. The mistakes at Anfield, concession of a penalty while the game with Aston Villa was goalless and the Idrissa Gana Gueye error that enabled Arsenal to take the game out of reach last week all formed part of games that would end in defeat for Everton.
Recognising that, Dyche said: “I think the resilience [of his side] has been pretty good. We make two mistakes in the Liverpool game, one in the Villa game and then Gana’s the other night. Those four individual errors are not helpful and they change the look of how it is. We eradicate them and we are already looking better. Of course we have to take them out.”
Despite his attention to the problem, another played out at Forest. Dyche was pleased with large parts of Everton’s performance at the City Ground, including Demarai Gray taking his first real opportunity under the 51-year-old and the team scoring twice for the first time since October. But it was not enough for a potentially momentum-swinging result in the bottom half of the table.
Doucoure got the second of the Everton goals, crowning his resurgence from the periphery of the squad under Frank Lampard to a player who has started all six of Dyche’s matches. It was unfortunate that Doucoure was caught out for the Forest equaliser - though Johnson still had a lot to do, with Dyche later acknowledging how good his finish was. But Dyche did not shy away from it in what was otherwise a relatively positive post-match press conference.
He said: “At the end of the day we have given them an opportunity rather than them creating one.” Developing the issue, he said he believes working on Everton’s shape and game management would be key to cutting out costly errors, adding: “[There was] A mistake for the second goal in the midfield, we didn't need to do that at that stage of the game but that is a continued learning curve of managing the game and working from your shape even when you are attacking but there were a lot of good things.”
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