Everton manager Sean Dyche would love to produce the kind of tiki-taka football that Pep Guardiola’s teams are renowned for but he plays to his side’s strengths and can turn Amadou Onana into a Premier League star, reckons Steven Defour.
During an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football earlier this season, Dyche insisted he remains unfazed by being typecast when it came to his supposed football philosophy, declaring: “What I’ve learned down the years is: why fight the box you’re put into?” However, Defour, who Dyche hailed as the most-talented player he handled during almost a decade in charge of Burnley, believes the now Blues boss has ambitions to be more expansive but has always been smart enough to be pragmatic.
He told the ECHO: “A lot of people think with Sean, everything is straightforward, long balls, second balls, ‘we’re going to duel’, but he likes to play football as well. When it’s the moment to do it or you have the qualities to do it, he wants you to play – just don’t over-think it or over-play it.
“I had a lot of talks with Sean because he appreciated me as a technical player. He told me ‘even I want to play like Barcelona or Manchester City but if you don’t have the players for it, you have to be a realist.’
“I remember the season we finished seventh in the Premier League at Burnley, we had some really good moments of football. People always forget that because when they have an impression of you, it sticks, it’s always the same, it seemingly cannot change.”
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Defour was a prodigious talent who had achieved a lot as a player from a young age having won the first of his 52 Belgium caps at 18 and being appointed captain of Standard Liege at 19, leading them to their first Belgian title in 25 years in his first season as skipper, playing in midfield alongside Marouane Fellaini who would join Everton for a then club record £15million early in the following campaign. He also attracted attention from England himself – Defour admitted at the time: “I do know Manchester United are monitoring me” – and when he broke his foot, he received a letter from Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson wishing him all the best in his recovery.
That injury scuppered any hopes of a big move to the Premier League at the time but after subsequent spells with Porto and Anderlecht, Defour finally made it to these shores in 2016 after what he would learn was a typically candid conversation with Dyche. He said: “Sean was always honest when he spoke on the phone to me. He said: ‘Look, I’m going to give you a chance to play in the Premier League, it’s going to be tough because we’re Burnley and we’re not the biggest team in the division and we don’t have the best players but maybe if you do well here, maybe you can go up again because if you work hard, everything will come to you.’
“I came to England thinking ‘I’ve experienced the Champions League and the World Cup – I know how the game is played’ but whether you’re playing for Burnley or even Everton, the Premier League is different from a physical point of view. You’re going up and down for 90 minutes and it doesn’t give you any moments of rest.
“Even in possession of the ball, you have to go really quickly because the other team are coming after you at speed and Sean makes sure you are comfortable with the demands of the Premier League through what he does in training. A lot of coaches are just training to prepare you for the game but he ensures you are able to go over your limits in a game.”
Defour is delighted to see Dyche back in the game at Goodison Park and inspired by his former gaffer, the 34-year-old is taking his own first steps in coaching this season with home city club Mechelen in the Belgian top flight. He said: “I think Sean absolutely deserves this chance at Everton.
“He did some amazing work at Burnley, I think with the players that he had, at some points what he did was close to a miracle to keep them in the Premier League and it was really amazing to guide the team to European qualification.
“He was pretty straightforward with the things he wanted, he kept it really simple. When you didn’t play, he was always honest with you, showing that honesty and reality with you every time.
“If you’ve not played for a few games, a lot of coaches would say ‘it’s not like you aren’t playing well, keep on going’ but Sean would tell you straight ‘you have to do more of this or more of that.’ Obviously when the coach doesn’t play you it’s because you’re doing something wrong and if the other player is doing better, you can accept it, but Sean was always really honest about it.
“I try to take elements of what Sean taught me into my own coaching. The players are different and the league is different but he believes that hard work always pays off so I try to tell the lads that if they put in the effort then they will be rewarded and they need to always keep that focused in their minds.”
Following the 1-0 win over Arsenal in his first game in charge, Dyche revealed that he would be contacting Defour to teach his latest Belgian midfield talent Amadou Onana about the requirements of the Premier League and the mentor is pleased to confirm that the lesson went well. Defour said: “I’ve spoken to him. He’s confident because he believes in his qualities and he’s worked hard to get where he is.
“He was really open because he knows me and knows he can speak to the gaffer and myself for advice. It was a really good conversation, he listened and I think if he carries on developing then he can have a great career.
“The Premier League is unforgiving, we see that with Everton now, they’ve always been one of the top teams but the Premier League never stops improving. If Amadou wants to evolve like he’s doing now and Sean can work with him, he can add new elements to his game and become a really good player.
“He has every quality to do the business in the Premier League. I saw Sean’s first game as Everton manager against Arsenal and what was a really good Onana.
“I think with his qualities, if he can work with Sean and add what he will demand from him then he can become a real midfield powerhouse.”
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