After a January transfer window in which Everton didn’t sign a single player and Chelsea spent £323m on eight newcomers, it may seem strange, but there are clear similarities between the challenge that Sean Dyche and Graham Potter face. have faced in their respective clubs.
“It seems to me that they are trying to form a way of working, like most of us,” Dyche said. football saturday ahead of his relegation-threatened team’s trip to Stamford Bridge for Saturday night football. “That’s part of the management, to form a way of working that suits the players, suits the feeling of the club. But mainly you have to win.”
The demand for victory may be in pursuit of different goals this season, but the pressure has been on Dyche and Potter to quickly instill their styles and standards of play in a new group of players.
For Dyche, the challenge was having an impact after taking over for Frank Lampard mid-season. For Potter, who has had a longer career at Chelsea, it was all about changing to deal with new signings and a laundry list of injuries.
Potter has reveled in the turnaround in form he finally achieved with Chelsea, with their three wins in a row last week including a morale-boosting progression to the Champions League quarter-final.
Saturday, March 18, 5:00 p.m.
Start 5:30 p.m.
Dyche has also seen positive steps from his side and explained how he approached the challenge of trying to turn Everton’s season around and discussed the response from his players, who have won three of their seven Premier League games with him, having won just three matches in the top flight this season before his appointment at the end of January.
“The players have been very adaptable,” he said. “They’ve listened, they’ve absorbed a lot of what we’ve offered them, particularly in the first week, 10 days, maybe two weeks because we really try to cram a lot into that time, really force-feed them.” much of what we thought was important.
“People sometimes think, ‘Well, that’s part of his profession,’ but you still have to get out there and play. You’re taking in a lot of information, sometimes new to your style or your game. It’s more complicated than people.” sometimes we think, to add new tactical thinking and different professional standards that we represent.
“As the weeks went by, they got more used to what we do and then it’s all about standards and driving standards and consistency of standards.”
Several of Dyche’s initiatives upon arrival at the club grabbed headlines, from the whistle test he had players complete, to a feedback questionnaire asking them to open up about what had worked well and what had not worked well. in the club before.
“There are things I like to combine with businesses I’ve been in,” says Dyche. “The idea of feedback, I love it and I want it to be honest. It’s tricky – people can write some pretty cool stuff!
“But it’s not just where things go wrong, we say what are the things that work? A lot of the answers are pretty similar, we share them with the group and we work on that basis. And then to change that, we do this, this, and this. … There is a bit of common sense.
“There was a bit of noise about the yo-yo test. It’s not trying to take some kind of a hard line, as people suggest. It’s a measure I’ve used many times, so I know where people should be along the way. over the years of using that measure Your body needs to be at a certain level to take the requirements of what the game offers you.
“I have three players here that I’ve worked with before, but for some of the players that’s probably something new, and I think they were great, very open-minded and I think they gave a truthful view. Complete anonymity, I just wanted honest feedback. “.
By applying the learnings from those sessions, Dyche has had a clear impact on Everton’s style of play, as well as their results.
However, after their 1-0 win over Brentford last weekend, he was careful not to get carried away with improvement, insisting that the team still have some way to go to get to where he wants them to be, despite the fact that the result promoted Everton. to position 15 in the table.
Dyche reiterated that point again to Sky sports. “It’s steps. To jump right up there [raising his hands], very rarely happens. We want to put building blocks to get you where you want to be.
“People talk about putting money into clubs and sometimes it has an instant effect, but there are many stories where it doesn’t. The work has to be progressive. But it’s a long, long journey.”
It’s a sentiment Potter could well relate to after his Chelsea experience. On Saturday, the meeting between two sides trying to rebuild and continue on a positive path should provide an interesting checkpoint of where they are on that journey.
Watch Soccer Saturday from 12pm on Sky Sports News and then Chelsea vs Everton live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; start 5:30 p.m.
