Everton boss Sean Dyche on Neal Maupay's comments, injuries, transfer rumours surrounding Dominic Calvert-Lewin and the challenge of facing Bournemouth
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
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00:00And to you, and to you all.
00:07Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference
00:11to preview our game against Bournemouth, we'll start off with Vinny from Sky.
00:14Shauna, thought I'd get this out of the way first,
00:17obviously Neil Moppé posted on social media about how he feels
00:21when he's down, he just looks for the Everton result,
00:25what are your feelings about what he had to say,
00:27what action can he undertake, if any?
00:29I think it's fair to say there's a bigger picture to have a football club that I'm focusing on.
00:34I don't think I need to be too worried about his comments.
00:36Is there any disciplinary action?
00:38No, I don't think we'll be worried about that, no, I don't think we'll be worried about any of that.
00:42What's the latest then in terms of team news,
00:44Tim Iribide and James Garner, how far away are they?
00:47They're both on the grass with the sports science side, not ready for us yet,
00:51still a bit of time to go with them, but they are making progress.
00:53Dwight McNeil?
00:55I doubt Dwight at the weekend is settling,
00:58but getting it to that final moment when he can join in again has been a bit trickier than we thought.
01:03On that then, what more do you feel you can get from the wide areas?
01:06Because you've created, as a team, 20 big chances this season from the 18 games,
01:10nine of them have come from Dwight, he's obviously got three goals, three assists,
01:14Illiman has three goals, Ashley's got one goal, three assists,
01:18but there's nothing from Vitaly Mikhalenko, Jack Harrison or Jesper Lindstrom?
01:22Yes, I mean, obviously we want them numbers to change for the players mentioned at the end there,
01:25but Dwight, we know he's a good player, we know he's a productive player
01:30and players like him will be missed, of course.
01:32Trying to get the team to construct chances and high-quality chances from other areas
01:36has been a long-term process here, still trying to do that,
01:40but obviously we do think them players have got enough time to do that,
01:43finding the right moments, but particularly, I think,
01:46Ili is slightly different, he's kind of styled from where he worked from,
01:50the way he drifts and carries the ball, it's a different scenario,
01:52but when you're talking more simply than that involves,
01:56you know, crosses and passes and killer passes,
01:59and that's been a task since I've been here and before I was here,
02:02I've spoken about that pretty fairly and pretty openly,
02:04it's fair to say, about trying to get more production from all areas,
02:08trying to get more production from individuals and the collective,
02:11and that's been a big challenge, still is.
02:14Well, again, then, do you see it as the problem at the moment
02:17in terms of creating those opportunities?
02:19Because, again, against Forest there were good moments,
02:21you got into good positions, but maybe that final delivery...
02:24Well, the conundrum is, if you remember at the beginning of last season,
02:27the first four or five games we didn't win four particularly,
02:30and yet our xG was off the scale,
02:31there was a lot of talk, tie-up to answer to it,
02:33and sometimes brought it up about the xG last season was very high overall,
02:37but it was certainly very high in the early part of the season,
02:40so therefore the point is you are creating good-quality chances,
02:44this season has not been as high, but there still have been chances,
02:47it's not just the provider's sorry, it's the final moment of truth,
02:51that's why usually, almost always,
02:55strikers and attacking players or goal-scoring style players are in demand,
02:58that's usually the case, and that's the reason,
03:01because getting there is one thing, the next challenge is to be productive,
03:03the next challenge is the quality of the production,
03:06like I say, if we put it in simple terms, a killer pass, a cross,
03:09that type of thing, but the final bit is the finish,
03:12and so I think there's a lot of teams being very successful at the minute,
03:16because I know the numbers, with less quality chances and less actual chances,
03:20scoring more goals, so it's all mixed in, it's not just the creation,
03:24it's the final moment of truth.
03:26In some way explain why Dominic's gone so long without a goal, what, 14 games now?
03:31Well, his personal numbers are decent, I spoke to him about that,
03:34so people are saying you play this way, you play that way,
03:37but if your own numbers, the thing about the stats and the facts,
03:40they're there to be used and the numbers are pretty decent,
03:44so sometimes it comes down to the moment of truth.
03:47It's slightly harsh on him, his numbers, because of the two goals that were Clasper's own goals,
03:51yeah, that does swerve the numbers a little bit,
03:54but no, some of the production has been better, to give them them chances,
03:59and some of it has been the moment of truth to take the chance.
04:01Just on Dominic, there's reports coming out of Italy
04:04that there's been an inquiry for him from Atalanta,
04:07any truth in that, and what would your thoughts be on the potential for...
04:09No, there's been no contact from anyone,
04:12there's bound to be rumours, there's bound to be conjecture, that's the nature of it.
04:15Would it make sense to let him go if an offer were to come in,
04:18or on the playing side would it leave you to shoot?
04:20I think we'll think about that if that happens,
04:22but as there's been no contact, there's been no discussion needed.
04:25How clear are you now that the window is open, though,
04:27as to what you can do money-wise whilst staying within those PSR parameters?
04:30Yeah, well, for one, I wouldn't be telling you,
04:32because that means everyone else knows, quite obviously,
04:34and then they'll guide themselves accordingly.
04:38No, I mean, there are parameters, the owners have made that clear,
04:40we know it's clear, some people have been trying to use that word PSR,
04:44like there's another moment in time for us, there isn't,
04:46not as far as I know, there isn't, just to be clear again for that,
04:50but never let the truth get in the way of a good story and all that,
04:53but there are guidelines, and everyone, not just for us,
04:56everyone's going to have to work within them,
04:57and other clubs are probably going into that world of where we were, maybe,
05:02where they've got to look at their numbers, and that's probably the case,
05:04everyone's just looking at their numbers, being sure,
05:06making sure they're in the correct position to move forward,
05:08so there are still guidelines, and it's, you know, the one thing it won't be,
05:13well, it's unlikely to be, is hundreds of millions of pounds,
05:16whether you've got it or not, and our owners are pretty wealthy, we know that,
05:19but there are still guidelines that they're going to have to work within.
05:22Just to push it, do you expect to do some business then?
05:25Sorry? Do you expect to do some business then?
05:28Forgetting about the numbers, I've been doing this a long time in the Premier League,
05:31notoriously January's a very, very tough month,
05:34because you never know, so I'm not saying no, but it is very tough,
05:37forgetting about numbers, you've seen it down the years,
05:40and usually if the big deals are done, they've often paid a lot of money for them big deals to happen.
05:45Just check on Seamus, is he all right?
05:48No, no, no, sorry, we've got to mention him, yeah.
05:51Nothing too serious, but not ready for this one.
05:54Well, Nathan Patterson coming into the mix as well...
05:56Yeah, yeah, we got him on the last couple of games, he's never been out the mix,
06:00he had a really serious injury, people forget that,
06:02and it's taken him some time to get back to real fitness and real sharpness,
06:05but I think he's getting there, and he's had some games on, which is good.
06:08Finally for me, Sean, what have you made of what Bournemouth have done?
06:11Unbeaten in seven, lost just five of 17 since the game at Goodison,
06:16a game that you guys probably should have won.
06:18Yeah, similar but different story to Forest,
06:22I said after Forest, just to explain that,
06:25because people say, no, you said it was a compliment,
06:27it was, because everyone talks about you've got to have 500 passes around your own box,
06:29well, they don't, Bournemouth don't really, but I said it was a compliment,
06:34these guys are playing a different way, they're getting them all forward early,
06:37Forest do the same, they're working hard as a team, very hard, they press,
06:41a good mix of football to try and be successful, and it's paying them back.
06:45It's not that easy to do, people sort of think it's easy to play their way, it's not,
06:48so respect for that, but of course, as I always say,
06:51respect goes out the window, we need results, we know that,
06:54we've had a good run of not losing games over the overall numbers,
06:58but turning to wins is massive, and against Forest we're another reminder,
07:01if you're not on everything, if you're not on every detail, you get hurt,
07:04so we've got to make sure that we're ready to go and work hard, that's for sure.
07:08Cheers, Sean, all the best.
07:09Thanks, Vinny, all the best.
07:11Hey, Sean, happy New Year.
07:12And to you and to everyone.
07:13Just picking up on that, the Bournemouth chat,
07:16we know that they play with that high press,
07:18they have such a particular style, they're so well organised,
07:21does that mean you're going to change the way that you set up on Saturday?
07:26No, I think you've just got to be more ready for it,
07:28I think they managed to do a great job,
07:29because I remember playing them when he first got here,
07:31and they were trying to play total football and it didn't work for them.
07:33They had a really tough start and he's changed it radically,
07:36I respect that, to change a whole style,
07:40and gone very more straightforward in football,
07:43but like I said, it's a compliment to make the best of your players,
07:45they've got players with energy, players with quality as well,
07:48and they're forming a unit that's been very successful so far this season.
07:52And differently to the beginning of the season,
07:54I agree with what Vinny said, we should have killed that game,
07:56we should have won it, we know all the rest of it,
07:58we didn't, that's the way it goes,
08:00but they've carried on working at their style,
08:03and they've got very good players I think, some underrated players.
08:06That being said, we've just taken on three,
08:10including Forest actually, because that sounds disrespectful,
08:12not three, because they're currently up there in the third,
08:14so four teams that have been very successful this season,
08:17and barring the Forest one, we've given a good account of ourselves,
08:20need to do more on the attacking side of things,
08:22but played some powerful clubs,
08:23so we need to go down there with the right attitude,
08:25the right mentality, the right tactical understanding,
08:27but of course, create more chances than we are doing to win games.
08:30Just on that, in December, so much was being made at the beginning
08:33about how tough your fixtures were going to be,
08:35especially over that festive period,
08:37but you've come away from that with a draw against City,
08:40a draw against Chelsea, a draw against Arsenal,
08:43yeah, you lost to Nottingham Forest,
08:44but that's three draws against big clubs,
08:46and points that maybe...
08:48Yeah, we beat Wolves before that game,
08:50because that was a really important game,
08:52not because they're giants of football,
08:53but you know what I mean, that has to be factored in,
08:55because that was a really tricky game for both teams.
08:57So does that mean that you're sort of coming into January
09:00feeling quite optimistic?
09:02Well, don't lose optimism, it just means that we,
09:04you know, I was hoping to turn them draws into a win,
09:07we didn't against Forest, we've got a chance,
09:08as you do in football, another chance to correct it,
09:11albeit aside in good form at their home ground,
09:13but, you know, it's another chance for us to go and take on the game,
09:16and I think, like you said,
09:18we've done enough to build that inner confidence,
09:20it's about taking that into, you know, moving it forwards,
09:23you know, breaking the cycle of events,
09:24this club's been in a cycle for quite a long time,
09:26they've looked past history in good spell, bad spell,
09:29good spell, bad spell, good spell, and it keeps going like that,
09:31we've had a more consistent spell,
09:32but haven't found the wins in that consistent spell,
09:35now can you go on again, can we take it on another level,
09:38you know, win a game, which makes all them draws look even better?
09:41You know, that's the weird thing about football,
09:43you know, if we'd have beat Forest,
09:44everyone would have said, oh, they're in a great run of form,
09:46we didn't beat Forest, now it's like, oh, you know,
09:48everything's not right, and you go, well, it's never far away.
09:50Do you listen to all of that outside chat?
09:53Here, you can't not listen to it,
09:55because everyone tells you about it all the time.
09:58So, I don't tend to, no, I mean, you know,
10:00I've got 10 years' experience with the Premier League,
10:02so I know what it's about, but I respect it,
10:06but I just don't have to read it all, you know what I mean?
10:08You've been asked quite a lot over sort of the recent month
10:12about the lack of goals and, you know,
10:14how it's not quite clicking up front necessarily
10:17in terms of actually scoring those goals.
10:19Is that a concern for you?
10:21I haven't been asked in the last month,
10:23that's been since I got here and before that.
10:24You know, the team wasn't scoring goals before that,
10:26I've checked on all the data.
10:28So, you're trying to correct a big situation.
10:30People sort of ask questions, as you do, and other people,
10:33and they make statements about as if it's easy.
10:36If it was easy, everyone would do it.
10:37Everyone loves to score goals, including me,
10:38everyone loves a team that scores goals, it's not that easy.
10:41So, how many different ways can you combine a team
10:44to make it work?
10:45And of course, you've got to remember,
10:46it's keeping that end shut.
10:48You know, early season, the first four games, we didn't win.
10:51We looked like we could score goals,
10:52but we couldn't keep the back door shut.
10:54So, it's finding that balance.
10:55You know, there are players who can score goals,
10:57I believe they can create chances and better quality chances.
11:01The consistency of it is key, you know,
11:03and opening different ways of doing that.
11:05And it's been a big challenge here.
11:07Sean, thank you very much.
11:13On that subject, in the calendar year of 2024,
11:16it was eight wins.
11:18Four of those came in April when it was that run,
11:20particularly in the one week where it was three wins.
11:23What was the difference?
11:24And you're saying there you want more from the attacking side.
11:27So, what was it in the April that you were doing
11:29that maybe isn't happening now?
11:33Well, if you remember them performances,
11:34they were organised performances, tactically,
11:37full of commitment, full of that.
11:39And nicking games with getting on the right side of the margins.
11:41You know, winning games freely in the Premier League is difficult.
11:45Sometimes the margins are tight, you have to get on the right side.
11:47We weren't doing, and then we suddenly did for them games.
11:50And we've done that in spells.
11:51Like I just mentioned, there's been spells of that,
11:53spells and we haven't done that.
11:55And it's so important, you know, it's sort of against Nottingham Forest.
11:57You know, two mistakes and you lose.
12:01Simple as that.
12:02You know, you've got to do everything right.
12:04You know, it's not just a goal scoring side.
12:05But that period, we were very strong defensively
12:08and we did manage to nick chances and good goals and win games.
12:11So, we're certainly not going to lose that, which was shown lately,
12:15but we just haven't turned them draws into wins.
12:17And that's the next stage, I think, barring the Forest game.
12:19That's the next stage in this run of games.
12:21After that game, you said the players didn't do what you'd wanted them to do
12:24in the first half.
12:25No, they didn't, no.
12:26So, what was the plan originally?
12:28And can you put that to bed this week?
12:30Because you have to trust your players to do what you say.
12:32To be fair, that's quite a rare thing
12:35that they stepped away from what we thought would be effective.
12:38So, yeah, probably didn't clear that bit up.
12:40And it was for one half.
12:41You know, second half, we changed the style, we changed the way of playing,
12:43the energy, the commitment.
12:44And second half, barring their goal, which was another mistake,
12:48then you'd look at the second half as a very dominant performance.
12:51So, but we didn't score, of course.
12:53So, changing, you know, that dominance in scoring goals,
12:56that's another challenge.
12:57But, you know, I'd like to think that it's a rarity
13:01they don't actually listen to what we say and didn't, or didn't,
13:03they do listen, but didn't deliver it on the day.
13:06Deciding factors, we spoke to the group about it.
13:08It can be many different things.
13:09You know, we all talk about it, too many games and all that sort of stuff.
13:12I don't use that as an excuse personally.
13:14You know, a bit of fatigue, they were on it, we weren't on it,
13:17collective down day, there's lots of different things.
13:19But the planning, the preparation's all there.
13:21It is frustrating when players step away from delivering it.
13:23And they did for a half, slightly better second half.
13:26But we've got to improve, that's for sure, on that performance.
13:28When you talk then about the issue with goals, and yes,
13:31it was an issue here before your time,
13:33but obviously it's almost two years since you joined.
13:36What, I'm just wondering, I know I've asked you before about bringing in
13:39an attacking, a striker coach here, are you constantly looking at that
13:43and seeing if you can make changes to change that, get those goals?
13:47I was sitting with Gary Burt, I was here in Storymore,
13:50and John Robertson recently, and they were talking about goal scorers,
13:53and all of them could find a goal.
13:55The thing is with striking coaches, if it was that easy,
13:58everyone would do it all around the world,
13:59and we'd have loads of strikers.
14:00No, seriously.
14:01You know, I know academies are searching the world for the top talent,
14:05and yet a lot of top clubs buy strikers who have developed through their pathway.
14:10It's a very difficult skill to just teach someone how to smell a goal,
14:14how to smell the right place to be, how to find a pathway through football.
14:18Most see it quicker than the opposition, most see it quicker than the defenders.
14:21They land in the right, it's like an intuition.
14:23So to teach intuition is very, very difficult.
14:27To maybe sharpen finishing practices, well, any pro-licensed coach,
14:30which we all are, should be able to do a finishing practice.
14:34Even top strikers, when I spoke to them, and I know a few,
14:36you know, for them to pass that knowledge on to someone is very difficult.
14:40Like I said, if it was that easy, there'd be top-striking coaches
14:43and top strikers all around the planet.
14:45There's not that many.
14:47On that note, then, Broge, you started him in the last game.
14:50Has he done enough to prove to you that he can start and be your main striker?
14:54He's doing enough around what we do in training, getting back to full fitness,
14:58not expecting an instant miracle, but I think he's a very good player.
15:02I'm going to just ask you about Mikalenko's form last season.
15:04I think he stood out as somebody who had really improved under you,
15:08maybe not so much this season, his form.
15:10Hasn't been quite where it was. How do you assess his season so far?
15:13Well, it's a strange thing, because equally, after the Arsenal game,
15:16everyone said he was terrific and outstanding,
15:17and marking one of the best attacking players in the country.
15:19So, that's the yin and yang of football.
15:23Thanks, Julian. We'll go to the press.
15:27If the methodology which has got you to the stability where you are on the pitch...
15:32At least for you to say, I know, I couldn't resist it, because he was laughing, that wasn't me.
15:35He was laughing, but I could see him, and I thought he was thinking what I was thinking.
15:40That'll be the last time somebody laughs at me.
15:42If the methodology doesn't change, and it's brought you that stability,
15:47then what does have to change?
15:49In what sense? Sorry, about the scoring aspect of the game?
15:53Just in terms of the methods you've employed has got you to a certain point,
16:00and presumably they're the methods you've always used, so you're sticking with that?
16:04No, they're certainly not the methods we've always used.
16:05We've got a completely different cultural group here,
16:08a completely different style, playing with different players.
16:11I was told I would never play anything over the 4-4-2.
16:14I think we've played it twice since I've been there.
16:16So, no, there's lots of differences.
16:18Very similar players.
16:19We haven't been in a situation to cherry-pick players who would just go,
16:23right, they'll do the job for us.
16:25And the spending power has been nowhere near what other teams have done over the last five seasons,
16:30not just my seasons here.
16:32So, eventually, the collective coaching point, I believe in my coaching myself in doing that,
16:38but changing the group, adding to the group,
16:42what can you give, what level of the market can you get to, to really adapt the group?
16:46And I think that's a challenge here.
16:47Financially, obviously, that's been proven.
16:49So, we're constantly working with a group of players to mould them into a group
16:54and add to them, and all the ability we've got to try and add to them to make it better
16:58and to make it stronger and to win more games.
17:00But the existence that you've got, do you feel you're getting the absolute best most out of them?
17:07I'm certainly trying, there's no guarantees,
17:09but I think there's been a lot of development through a lot of players here.
17:12You know, the ways of grading football, you know,
17:15because most people just purely, we've spoken about this a lot,
17:17my job here has been endless, but no-one really cares.
17:20They just bother about, go and win a game, mate.
17:21I've said that all the time.
17:23We've saved hundreds of millions of pounds here,
17:24and players play trading, wages, all the rest of it, skinned the squad down, all the rest of it.
17:29It's not relevant, just win a game.
17:31So, it depends how you measure it.
17:32You know, I know the work we've done here.
17:34I know the work we've done financially.
17:35I know the work we've done with players.
17:36Players here are worth ten times what they were worth when we got here.
17:39So, there's development.
17:41But like I say, the only development fans and media and everyone cares about,
17:44including myself to some degree, I have to care about the rest of it.
17:48But win games, be successful.
17:50Never think, I don't want that, that's my number one.
17:52But while I'm doing that here, it hasn't been just concentrating on that.
17:55Sometimes you get the luxury of going, your job is to just concentrate on the team,
17:59that's it, because everything else is in place.
18:01It clearly hasn't been here, and it's still not.
18:04I said at the beginning of the season, there is miles to go,
18:06but everyone's just making up, why aren't you doing this, why aren't you doing that?
18:09It's endless work to go here.
18:10So, it depends how you measure it, is my point.
18:12If you measure it on just winning games, we need to do better.
18:15There's no two ways about it, I need to do better.
18:17If you measure it on the whole job, I'm pretty happy.
18:22Is your role narrowed now that all the off-field stuff is sort of sorted?
18:27You said you had some managers...
18:28No, because like I say, we're still working with this group.
18:30There isn't a magic checkbook to say, there you go,
18:33because of rules and guidance, not because the owners don't want to support,
18:36because they obviously do, but there's still guidelines.
18:39So, it can't just be corrected.
18:40So, it's a constant working process, as it has been ever since I got here,
18:43and it still is.
18:46Any further questions on the old construction before we move on?