Timely return of being relentless
Soon after his appointment, Sean Dyche called on his Everton team to be “relentless” and for a while they were but after losing their way in recent weeks, this was a timely return to such in-your-face determination.
Don’t be fooled, there was silk as well as steel in this display, from Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s graceful pirouette to Dwight McNeil’s twinkling toes – more on him to come – but the performance was a culmination of over three months’ hard graft since Dyche first came through the door. A new manager ‘bounce’ that saw three wins from his first seven games – the same total predecessor Frank Lampard had picked up in 20 – then gave way to one victory out of 11 and while there had been other hard-earned draws at Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester City, Everton knew they were going to have to get that monkey off their back and end their travel sickness with a win away from Goodison Park at some point.
