Dyche on Everton injury crisis and Leicester trip
19/09/2024
Finch Farm Training ground, Liverpool, UK
19/09/2024
Finch Farm Training ground, Liverpool, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Da-da-da-da-da, it's my best, I can remember.
00:12Are you alright?
00:13Names?
00:14What's it got to do with you?
00:15Yeah, names, yeah.
00:16It's how I can remember them all.
00:19Excuse me.
00:21Good afternoon everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against Leicester City this weekend.
00:26We'll start off with Peter from Sky Sports.
00:28Sure, very good afternoon, nice to see you, you well?
00:30Yes, good, thank you.
00:31Can I just start maybe by dividing your missing players up into maybe the sick and the injured, can we go through names?
00:37Yeah, I've brought a list just so I don't forget anyone.
00:40Jared's making progress, hopefully gets involved in a game this weekend, it's looking like he will do with the under-21s.
00:46James Tarkowski, sorry, we're hopeful, trained today so there's no reaction.
00:53Nathan Paterson, same as Jared.
00:56Dominic Cavalluini looks OK today, he was back in on the grass so we're hopeful that his illness is gone.
01:03Jimmy Garner is still not in with illness.
01:06Idrissa, unfortunately has had a family bereavement so he won't be here.
01:13Miko is through the illness, he was in today so we're hopeful that's him done.
01:18Shames is still injured, unfortunately going to be longer than we hoped so that's not going to be a quick situation,
01:24we're not sure on the timescales yet.
01:26Yousef's making good progress but obviously quite a long-term injury.
01:31Armando, he's making progress but obviously a longer-term injury and Keno is getting checked out today,
01:37just having a precautionary scan to make sure he's OK.
01:40That is some list, have you known a list like that in your management years?
01:45Not when you're carrying such a small squad anyway so it's not been that helpful.
01:50On and off from pre-season it's been an awkward run and obviously this week we've been as stretched as we've been,
01:58particularly for the Cup game.
02:00The night, people questioning why I didn't change the team, this is what it is,
02:05unfortunately this is the reality and that was the reality of the players we had fit for that game,
02:09so we're hopeful on a couple of these coming through tomorrow and training so we'll have to wait and see.
02:13How on earth do you prepare for a game when you're juggling so many players, maybe, maybe not?
02:18It's difficult because the other day we had the morning because three players came in ill,
02:25so we just had an hour in the morning to get the ideas into the players the best we could,
02:32the set-pieces etc. and put them out there.
02:35We're hopeful that tomorrow we get a few bodies back so at least we've got a day's prep before we go to Leicester.
02:41It's a rare reality but it's still a reality, I've not experienced this many injured and ill in such a short space of time.
02:48It's just one of them things at the moment, a lot of things seem to be big challenges for us.
02:53As well as the challenges of the sickness and the injured, you're having to think your way through
02:58ending this frustrating start to the season that you've had.
03:02Your teams traditionally don't concede goals, you've conceded 13,
03:05so as a former defender what have you been doing on the training ground this week
03:10just to try and move things on and maybe instil a little bit more confidence?
03:14Well, it's hard this week because of what we've just spoken about,
03:18but generally speaking, just reaffirming to them the whys and wherefores of why we had such a good record here last season
03:25with clean sheets and keeping games tight.
03:30Change of personnel can affect that quite obviously with injuries and illnesses
03:34and new players coming in and other players going out.
03:37We've brought in four players who I think are young and will grow into the Premier League
03:42and we're seeing that, we're getting them some game time now, which is helpful.
03:45They haven't got the depth of experience the outgoing players had, so that has to mould into the team as well.
03:50So trying to bring that all together at once and making it work at both ends of the pitch
03:54is obviously the challenge for me and every other manager.
03:56But you look at your next three or four games and you've got Leicester, you've got Palace,
04:00you've got Ipswich shortly after that, those three teams all directly above you.
04:05Do you sense that a really critical period of games now coming up for Everton?
04:08I think I've spoken endlessly about it. Every part of the Premier League season is critical.
04:13You don't design to get off not to a good start. Trust me, no manager does, no team does, no player does.
04:19We wanted to get off to a better start than we've got off to, but we haven't.
04:23So therefore we've got five different ways of operating, five different ways of producing to go and win performances.
04:30And like I say, you'd always take a lucky one. You don't want to build on it, but you take one.
04:34But we had this start last season, so that's a bit of a head-scratcher as well.
04:38Lots of challenges there, but we've had that last season and I think the season before that before I was here as well.
04:44I'm trying to fathom out that side of it, but the immediate thing is to correct it as quick as possible.
04:49The point I'm making is that that team's in and around you and you'd want to be winning those games.
04:53You want to be winning all games. It's not that easy, quite obviously.
04:57The fact they're in and around you doesn't make it easier, it just makes it another challenge.
05:00So we've got to take it on and be clear-minded and put a team out there that we believe can win.
05:05I know Goodison can be a fabulous arena when things are going well, but I just wonder on this occasion,
05:10does it help in a way sometimes playing away from home?
05:12Because teams will come on to you, you can play on the counter,
05:16and maybe there's not that pressure from the crowd that you get at Goodison?
05:19Yeah, you can't define that.
05:20I mean, the away record when I got here wasn't good enough and then we changed that and we got it better.
05:25The home record suffered a little bit and we got the home record corrected at the end of last season.
05:28Now the away record's mentioned again.
05:30Finding the balance of both records is obviously the biggest challenge across, well,
05:35arguably not so Yemen's cities and the like, although often theirs isn't quite as good away.
05:42But it's very difficult.
05:44Trying to get it, first things first, is home and away.
05:47We want to play at Goodison and make that clear.
05:49But you've got to find points, you've got to find wins wherever you can.
05:52At the moment, it's getting a win.
05:53That's the first ball call, wherever that may come.
05:55That's the biggest challenge at the moment.
05:57And that's the one right in front of us.
05:58So whether it's home or away, that's the main importance, is to get a win.
06:01Thanks for your time.
06:02Have a good weekend.
06:04As far as Leicester are concerned,
06:07I mean, just how big a boost for everybody here would it be if you were to pick up that first win
06:11against the Leicester City side that have just been promoted?
06:14Yeah, I mean, like I say, just because they've been promoted doesn't mean they're not a good outfit.
06:18They've still got some good players.
06:21We've kept hold of a number of players who have played in the Premier League.
06:23We've got to go there with the right frame of mind, I think.
06:27Some of the segments in our performances, scoring two away and that sort of thing,
06:32and two at home.
06:34We've got to remember that we can score goals,
06:36but obviously we've got to do better with the defensive side of things
06:39and find that balance over 90-whatever minutes are played.
06:42That's the challenge that's right in front of us.
06:45And how much of a challenge is it for you as a manager when you see the good periods
06:50that you've had where you've been a couple of goals in front,
06:52but then the small periods of negative where you've got the team to come back to you?
06:56How do you go about trying to accentuate and make sure that the players
07:00concentrate on those positive bits rather than trying to get rid of those?
07:04Yeah, well, I mean, that's what your coaching team, your management ideas are for,
07:08to make sure that they can find a consistency.
07:11I think we did, particularly at the end of last season.
07:13I talk about the consistency within a performance, not just week in, week out.
07:17I think that's something that we haven't achieved so far this season,
07:20that consistency to see a game through in totality.
07:23Arguably, the Bournemouth game, we were doing that until the last seven or eight minutes
07:27and that was hard to take and hard to understand,
07:30but then you have to try and correct that so you work with the players again.
07:33And it's helpful if you've got a balanced group to work with, of course,
07:36and the consistency with your own group.
07:39But, yeah, just reminding them of how we do it, why we do it, game management,
07:43all those things, but it's a constant.
07:46People sort of presuppose the opposite, where they just think you sort of let all them go.
07:50You don't. You know, this is a constant progress, or constant work to try and progress, sorry,
07:54to find a way of working that can win games and win more often.
08:02Hi, Sean.
08:03Hi.
08:04You're down to 12 first-teamers on Tuesday morning?
08:07Outfield, yeah.
08:08How many do you reckon you'll have this week?
08:11Well, I've just named the list of ones who can't be or the ones that might not be.
08:15So we're hopeful on Miko being back around it.
08:19We're hopeful on Dominic.
08:20They came through today, so we're hopeful that's clear.
08:23Keno, we're waiting on news.
08:25Taki, we're hopeful, trained today, but we've got to see if there's no reaction.
08:31So they're the main ones. Jimmy's gone home still unwell.
08:35And Jack Harrison, actually, I've got to mention, he's gone home unwell,
08:38but we're hopeful that's something out of nothing.
08:41We'll wait and see out of them.
08:42But certainly we'd imagine that Dom and Miko will be the two you immediately look at
08:46and hope that they're back in the fold.
08:48There was a stat this week that Everton's start is the worst from all 96 teams
08:54in Europe's top five leagues.
08:56Is there sort of embarrassment around that, or is it someone has to be there?
09:00No, not at all.
09:01There's no embarrassment in what I do and what I attempt to do for my team.
09:05The team here, I couldn't be more proud of the players.
09:07They've come through some enormous challenges.
09:09There's more coming.
09:10So this is another challenge.
09:12We all go up and down the stats ladder in one way or another.
09:15You don't want them, but they're there.
09:17So therefore, to correct them, that's a challenge.
09:19You spoke about the reaction from the fans after Ashley Young was brought on
09:24and Beto was taken off you at the night.
09:26Do you as manager feel you've still got the backing of the fans here?
09:29The fans come and go and they decide whatever it is.
09:33All I can do is work as hard as I can at work.
09:35It's never something that I've overthought.
09:38I respect the fans here.
09:39It's absolutely, abundantly clear the way they've supported me,
09:42the team and the club over many years before my time here.
09:46So there's absolutely no question in that.
09:48All I do is work as hard as I can to put a team together and win games
09:51in 20 months in some very, very trying circumstances.
09:55Handling that amongst trying to win games, amongst the development,
09:58amongst the money, trying to save money, that is.
10:00It's a big challenge.
10:01So all I can do is that and work as hard as I can.
10:04The idea being, I've mentioned it many times,
10:07here on 0-0-0, it comes and goes very quickly.
10:10I try and stay steadfast to what's in front of me
10:12and that's the truth of what we're trying to achieve here.
10:15Football clubs, players at football clubs nowadays,
10:19have a lot of support networks when things are not going well
10:23or when they're doing well.
10:25Do managers have that sort of thing?
10:27What do you mean, support networks?
10:29Oh, right.
10:31Is that because I'm a manager?
10:33No, I don't rely on that.
10:35Believe it or not, you may think differently,
10:37but I'm pretty mentally clear on the challenge
10:40that's right in front of me and on my own part.
10:42Could you sort of turn to when it's in tough times?
10:46If people need that, then it's available.
10:48Yeah, of course.
10:49Why not?
10:50If you're having challenges in your life, whatever they may be,
10:53and players, people presuppose every player goes out there
10:56and why they play less.
10:58People don't even understand and nor should they.
11:00You wouldn't expect sports to understand every part of the industry.
11:04Players still have lives away from the challenges of just being a footballer.
11:08Sometimes that comes into consideration with their form,
11:11their well-being, and that's an important part of modern life,
11:14not just football life.
11:15I think for the last couple of years in modern life,
11:18mental health and well-being has been a massive subject.
11:21Is the job of a football manager a lonely job?
11:24When you read the headline, everything is...
11:26Yeah, it mostly is, but that's what you sign up for.
11:29There's no manager that I know
11:31who thinks it's not going to have its moments of being lonely.
11:33That's just the reality of the job.
11:35I've been doing it quite a long time now.
11:37Footballers can feel like that as well, though.
11:39It's not just managers.
11:40Footballers can feel like that because it can be.
11:42But it can be when you're going well.
11:44Everyone thinks it's only when you're not.
11:46I remember being in Liverpool, everyone was jumping for joy.
11:49I didn't.
11:50I just went back to my flat and went to sleep
11:52because I knew the job wasn't over.
11:53The bigger picture job was for me to get done as a manager,
11:56and that was to make sure we safeguarded ourselves in the Premier League.
11:58So when that was done, I enjoyed that moment,
12:00but the rest of it is for other people.
12:02That's a measure of what it is.
12:03It's not just about when things are going against you.
12:05It's about when things are going for you as well.
12:07It can be equally lonely.
12:08Does it feel like the world's against you?
12:10No, not at all.
12:11It just feels like the reality of what I'm in.
12:13This is the industry I'm in.
12:14I signed up for it.
12:15I've been in it all my life.
12:16This is the reality.
12:17I'm absolutely clear-minded of what it is,
12:19and now it's just challenging myself to find a way of changing it.
12:29Just going back to your list, then.
12:32Jarrod Brantwick will only be in the under-21s this weekend.
12:35He won't make the first-team squad?
12:37No, he's not had any football for a long time.
12:40And you've got...
12:41Nathan as well.
12:42And potentially no James Tarkovsky,
12:44potentially no Michael Keane.
12:45That is exceptionally light in a very small squad.
12:48It is.
12:49If they aren't available, what is your plan B for that?
12:53Have you looked at the under-21s?
12:55Could this potentially be a very, very young centre-back?
12:58We'll just find a way of making the team operate the best it can.
13:01So have you got a plan in case they aren't?
13:03Yeah, I mean, I'm waiting on news.
13:04And we're hopeful, by the way, on both them players.
13:07But yeah, we've got an idea of what we do next.
13:10Low possession is something that Everson have been in the headlines for.
13:14So I had a look.
13:15It's been below 40% in all of the defeats played so far,
13:19apart from against Bournemouth, which was 47%, so below 50%.
13:23Can you win games in the Premier League with low possession?
13:27And are you concerned about that?
13:30I think Leicester won the league, didn't they, with the lowest possession?
13:33No, I don't think that was right.
13:35You'd have to double-check that.
13:36But yeah, look, I think it was about ten years ago
13:39when Everson decided possession is the only thing in football
13:41that can make you win.
13:42And it's been, obviously, radically proven wrong.
13:44You want to use the ball, but you want to use it wisely.
13:47The other night, there was a lot made of the possession.
13:49Southampton play a game where we get the possession maps done.
13:52Most of their football is in the back third of the field.
13:55So, you know, not many players go chasing up there.
13:58That wouldn't be the right idea, let's say, tactically.
14:01So, you've got to use the ball wisely when you get it.
14:03And the other night, we broke on them so many times.
14:05And I think it's fair to say that the best chance of the game,
14:08you take them and no one even mentions it.
14:10So, winning changes perception.
14:12It's as simple as that.
14:14No mention of lack of possession at the end of last season.
14:17Five home wins, beating Liverpool.
14:19No mention of that.
14:20It's just these are the challenges of modern management.
14:22When things are going against you, everything gets mentioned.
14:24Everything gets dissected, picked to bits.
14:26That's the way it goes.
14:27When you're winning, everyone decides it's the right way of winning, of course.
14:30We've seen that with many managers, particularly in the Premier League,
14:33and ones who are people I respect.
14:35Is it different, though, when it's low possession against somebody
14:38like Liverpool or the pressure a Merseyside derby brings
14:41compared to, if we just look back to this week, Southampton at home,
14:44newly promoted side.
14:46Would people expect Everton to have a higher possession percentage, though?
14:50I don't know whether they do or they don't.
14:52I expect to win.
14:53I think that's what people expect.
14:56The rest of it is conjecture.
14:57That's what the Evertonians want.
14:59They want to win.
15:00I think that's the challenge of what we've got to change
15:02because we haven't won games.
15:03I think the rest of it follows on making the best use of players.
15:06That's my belief.
15:07What's the best use of the players?
15:08What's the best use of the style?
15:10I saw Ancelotti's interview, you might have seen it,
15:12when he mentioned about being here.
15:13He said, a goalkeeper who can smack it down the pitch,
15:16not in his words, of course,
15:17and had a big centre forward who could keep hold of it.
15:19So he said, that's what I did.
15:20I got him to kick it to him.
15:22He's a pretty decorated manager.
15:24I'm not saying that's right or wrong,
15:25but that was his opinion of being at Everton Football Club
15:27and the best way of getting his players to win.
15:29All I'm looking for is a way that can, hopefully,
15:32find a way that Evertonians can be proud of the team
15:35for the way they're playing
15:36and hopefully win, of course.
15:37Now the plan is to find the both is the perfect joint.
15:40Have you done a reset?
15:42I'm thinking back to,
15:43we had a press conference in here after the 6-0 at Chelsea last season.
15:47You said there'd been some meetings,
15:49some very strong words.
15:52Then a reset.
15:54Is there anything you've done like that now
15:56or do you not feel it's at that point?
15:58It's different terms.
15:59We haven't had a group to reset.
16:00Every week it's been changing,
16:01so it's very difficult.
16:03Then we had a group who were more or less what they were
16:05and I thought, right, OK,
16:07we know what we're doing now.
16:08This is the group.
16:09It's been there for a long time last season,
16:10if you know what I mean, relatively speaking.
16:12We've got changes to this group.
16:14Obviously, players leave and players come in
16:15and then individual problems with fitness.
16:18So we haven't really had the chance to look at the group
16:20and play them games with the same outfit
16:21and go, right, OK, where are we at?
16:23But there are some themes, of course,
16:24that we've got to correct.
16:25That gets spoken about.
16:27So you probably can't know your best starting XI then,
16:31can you, given what's gone on?
16:32Well, I've got it in my mind,
16:34but obviously I haven't had it fit yet.
16:37Excellent, Julia.
16:38Any further questions in the open section?
16:40We'll go to Eleanor and then Will.
16:42Sean, do you have an idea
16:47when Jared might be available for the first team?
16:51Not yet, no, because he's yet to play his first game,
16:53which hopefully will be this weekend,
16:55as long as the next few days go well
16:56and then we'll take it from there.
16:57Obviously, he's established quite a reputation for himself,
16:59but given the amount of time he's been out,
17:01will fans need to be a bit patient with him?
17:04Well, it's not about being patient.
17:06It's just making sure a player has the chance to play
17:08and be fully fit.
17:09So it's more that,
17:11making sure his body is ready
17:12to go and take on the challenge
17:13of what the Premier League may hold.
17:15But it's still a boost for you
17:16that he's kind of at this stage now
17:18where he can play some football?
17:19Well, it's a boost if he comes back through it.
17:21That's the main thing,
17:22because I don't like talking about players' injuries
17:23because you never know.
17:24But if he comes through this next period
17:26and then he's fit and ready,
17:27of course it's a boost, yeah,
17:28because he's been a very good player.
17:30Thanks.
17:31Finally, Will.
17:33Sean, the way you ended last season
17:34was really positive
17:36and it seemed like there was a little bit of momentum
17:38to safeguard the club.
17:41I don't think anyone was getting ahead of themselves.
17:43But why do you think you haven't been able
17:44to take that momentum
17:45into this campaign so far?
17:47Well, like I say,
17:48if you had the same team
17:49and the same people
17:50and you'd like to build on that
17:51and move it forwards,
17:52but we are what we are.
17:53We had to sell players.
17:54We had to bring money in.
17:55We had to balance that out
17:56with money going out.
17:57We had to bring fresh players in
17:58and a younger style of player
17:59to try and build them for the future
18:01to safeguard the finances of the club.
18:02It's a different model.
18:03So the summer brought a different being,
18:05a different group,
18:06a different way of working.
18:08And then you add in a few injuries
18:09and all of a sudden
18:10you're a bit stretched
18:11and before you know it
18:12you're into the season.
18:13So it's been a different dynamic.
18:15So it's almost,
18:16rather than a continuation,
18:17it was a restart.
18:18Here we go again.
18:19This is a different model now.
18:20We've got to bring costs down.
18:21We've got to balance out the books.
18:22We've got to bring money in.
18:23And we've got to get players in
18:24who can develop into the club,
18:25not ones who
18:26maybe in the past
18:27have bought players at an age
18:28where unlikely
18:31they move on for
18:32bigger money in the future.
18:33So the model's changed.
18:36Last season you had a lot of stability.
18:37You had a lot of stability at the back
18:38but this season it's been
18:39difficult,
18:40especially at right back.
18:41Roman Dixon maybe
18:42showed his good side
18:43and the side he needs to work on
18:45on Tuesday nights
18:46giving away the free kick.
18:47But is there a case that
18:48you've had to say
18:49the players have had to learn
18:50on the job in the past?
18:51Is there a case to
18:52getting a bit of stability?
18:53Yeah, I mean it's amazing.
18:54I mean Harrison,
18:55he's 17,
18:56his family are there.
18:57What a great honour
18:58to pull on the shirt
18:59at such a young age
19:00with his family in the stadium as well.
19:01So great in that respect.
19:03But yes,
19:04fast-tracking these players
19:05has been more or less
19:06a constant
19:07since not so much
19:08when I first got here
19:09but the summer
19:10when we,
19:11you know,
19:12a lot of players
19:13left the club,
19:14let's put it that way
19:15and then we've had to
19:16sort of integrate
19:17the younger players
19:18quickly
19:19into the situation
19:20without even
19:21loan periods
19:22without, you know,
19:23getting a taste
19:24of what football's about.
19:25But that's just,
19:26I mean these are
19:27some of the challenges
19:28that are right there.
19:29They're right there.
19:30Everyone can see them.
19:31I know them.
19:32Everyone knows them.
19:33So they're just some
19:34of the challenges
19:35that we're of course
19:36trying to develop players
19:37that can go into
19:38the first team
19:39and handle what it is
19:40to be part of
19:41Everton Football Club.
19:42And if Michael Keane
19:43is absent,
19:44Jake O'Brien I assume
19:45will come in.
19:46Have you made
19:47any progress so far?
19:48Yeah, I mean he's adapting
19:49to what it is,
19:50you know,
19:51and it's,
19:52like I told you,
19:53the nuts and bolts,
19:54the nuances of the
19:55Premier League
19:56are different
19:57without a doubt.
19:58But I think he's
19:59adapting well.
20:00We want a continuation
20:01of that.
20:02I thought Jesper
20:03showed the other night
20:04he had a couple of chances
20:05where you'd hope
20:06he'd put them away,
20:07but he showed more
20:08about what he's about.
20:09So he's beginning
20:10to learn and get used
20:11to what it is.
20:12The biggest challenge
20:13is when they go out
20:14on the real stuff,
20:15you know,
20:16and the Premier League
20:17whistle blows.
20:18Because that's always
20:19the biggest challenge
20:20when they come from
20:21no, sorry,
20:22when they come from
20:23a situation where
20:24they haven't played
20:25in the Premier League
20:26to picking it up quickly
20:27and learning about
20:28the Premier League.
20:29Thanks Will.