Six weeks into Sean Dyche’s Everton career, a number of themes are starting to become apparent. One of the most stark surrounds his use of his substitutes.
Turning to the bench is as crucial as it ever has been. With five changes allowed, most games take on a different complexion around the hour mark when a fleet of new players are introduced with more options waiting for their moment.
Dyche, however, appears an outlier on this front - often leaving it until the final minutes before making any adjustments to his starting line-up. It is an approach many supporters have already noted, so the ECHO asked him for his thoughts on the topic.
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In seven games since his appointment as Everton manager, Dyche has made just 18 substitutions. That means he used just over half of the changes available to him during his stint at Finch Farm. Of the 35 potential substitutions that could have been used against Everton over this period, 28 slots have been used. Liverpool, Brentford and Arsenal, at the Emirates, used the full allocation in those games.
At times, the changes have hurt Everton. Ryan Yates was part of a triple move made as Everton fought to hold onto the lead at Nottingham Forest. He was introduced in the 70th minute and played a key role in Brennan Johnson’s equaliser a short while later. Emi Buendia helped Aston Villa steal the initiative when he came on in the 61st minute at Goodison Park - Villa winning a penalty two minutes later and Buendia scoring his side’s second goal. Against Brentford, at the weekend, it was notable how, as Thomas Frank turned to the first two of his five changes on the hour mark, Everton found sustenance from the stands and not the bench.
The figures are distorted by Liverpool and Arsenal making so many changes after having effectively won their games at Anfield and the Emirates respectively. But six of Dyche’s changes came in those matches as he used the minutes as opportunities to try different things. It is not just the amount of changes made - or not made - by Dyche that is of interest though. The timing, too, stands out. If you remove subs made for apparent experimentation with games already lost - Mason Holgate for Idrissa Gueye and Demarai Gray for Neal Maupay at Arsenal, Ellis Simms coming off for Maupay at Anfield - and injury - Dominic Calvert-Lewin leaving the pitch with his hamstring issue during the home win against Arsenal - then the earliest change made by Dyche is Alex Iwobi coming off for Gray in the 70th minute of the Villa defeat.
Much has been this season of the lack of depth to Everton’s squad and this is likely a factor in Dyche’s decision-making - on several occasions he has named five defenders among his nine substitutes. There were times when Frank Lampard’s use of his substitutes felt like a message to his superiors - he did not make a single change in the draw at Leeds in August, the final game before the summer transfer window closed. James Garner and Idrissa Gueye were added to the squad in the days that followed.
But Dyche did not point to depth as an issue when asked why he had made changes so late in the draw at Forest and instead shared his wider approach to the issue. He said: “If the team is operating in the manner that I think is right, other than fatigue or injury of course, then I don’t tinker too much. My stats and the facts on that have paid me back. I believe in a way of working and unless someone is particularly off-colour, or there might be an injury reason, or just a fatigue reason, I often leave the side alone if I think it is operating in the right way.”
With Garner now back from injury and Calvert-Lewin and Nathan Patterson likely to be challenging for the starting eleven after the international break that follows the trip to Chelsea on Saturday, Dyche is set to see his wider squad options significantly increase. Whether that leads to more - or earlier - changes remains to be seen.
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