Sean Dyche has insisted he will not be judged on playing style at Everton but by winning as he strives to secure the Premier League status of the financially troubled club.
They took a significant step towards that goal on Wednesday by winning the Merseyside derby for the first time in 14 years at Goodison Park. After the 2-0 defeat of Liverpool Dyche, conscious of the criticism his approach attracted during a run of 13 games without a win, claimed he wanted “to play beautiful football if I can, but I want to play winning football first.”
He elaborated on that point on Thursday, admitting that Everton’s predicament necessitates points over style. “I have to find a way to win,” he said. “The biggest judgment here so far is winning. This is not a time for style, this is a time to win.
“I have always said I am trying to get a base to work from. If you get that, and the club is in better health and better shape, then you can start developing styles. But at the minute I have all different styles of players brought in from all different managers and moulding that into one unit and winning games is very difficult.”
Everton would be safe, with four games to spare, on 41 points – their highest tally in three seasons – but for being deducted eight points for two breaches of Premier League profitability and sustainability rules. Dyche makes no apologies for an approach that will bring Premier League survival should Everton beat Brentford on Saturday and Luton fail to win at Wolves.
“I like direct football,” he said. “When you talk about playing direct football, people presuppose you mean kicking the ball down the pitch. It doesn’t mean that at all. How many times can you turn and play forwards? That is direct football. You have to penetrate.
“Passing it around the six-yard line is not for me. I don’t see value in that. I don’t see value in that as a performance and I don’t see value in that as a fan. Unless you are killing the game, but we are not on about tactical football here. My idea of direct football is how quickly can you penetrate the opposition.”
