Sean Dyche has created a monster.
For several years the biggest criticism aimed at Everton under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri has, rightly, been of the reckless spending that has led to a Frankenstein squad assembled as the club lurched from manager to manager, director of football to director of football.
Those problems remain and are not to be glossed over. But from the wreckage of the chaos Dyche has somehow assembled a competitive force. And with Goodison Park at its snarling, hungry, raucous best, Everton overcame its own self-destruction to earn a point that could be crucial to this historic club’s fate.
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Everton, under Dyche, are not a bottom three side. They have tackled his nine games with aggression and, but for a few moments at Arsenal and Liverpool and a wild 10 minutes on Monday night, discipline. Yet he inherited a team mired in trouble and more effort and fight and desire is needed to escape catastrophe. That work continued against Tottenham Hotspur as Everton displayed a resilience their lethargic opposition could not overcome even when they had a man and a goal advantage.
The Blues had been the better side when trouble struck. A scrappy first period had led to a pulsing start to the second half that saw the midfield three of Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana hustle and probe on the edge of the Spurs area and pounce on the errors they forced.
The narrative of this game could have been different had the best chance to emerge from this led to Gueye setting up one of the runners either side of him rather than blasting over the bar. Onana had stolen the ball from Eric Dier and Gueye had options but chose the wrong one. Goodison groaned in frustration but such was Everton’s momentum it felt like more opportunities would come. They did not.
Instead, self-destruction awaited. Harry Kane, a petty nuisance who angered home players and fans throughout the game, barged over Demarai Gray then went into a hefty challenge with Doucoure for the loose ball. Doucoure, despite being held back by his manager, reacted in the split second that followed by pushing Kane in the face. The manner of the England captain’s collapse was an embarrassment but Doucoure still could have little complaint at seeing red.
Everton went from the front foot to the back foot and, camped in their own half, further undermined their own effort. Cristian Romero was moving away from goal when the ball came his way but the challenge from Michael Keane sent him sprawling. Soft? Perhaps. But, again, unnecessary. Kane dispatched to give his side an undeserved lead from 12 yards just as he had done in the reverse fixture.
Everton, stunned, appeared to have thrown away a game that had been there for the taking. And such is the cruelty of Everton’s storyline over recent years, it seemed fitting that Doucoure and Keane - the two players who have benefited most through Dyche’s arrival - should be the source of the downfall.
But Dyche has changed Everton. That had been obvious in the way his side held onto wins over Arsenal, Leeds and Brentford and then fought back twice at Stamford Bridge to earn a point at Chelsea. Despite being down to 10 men and a goal behind, Everton looked the more threatening side. Gray forced Lloris into a low save before Gueye again opted to shoot from the edge of the box and this time made Lloris work hard to tip the ball over. Buoyed by a home crowd incensed by the decisions that had gone against them Everton kept pushing. And in credit to him, so did Keane. He nearly forced a back post header in from a cross before then reacting quickest to tempt Lucas Moura into an horrific lunge that gave referee David Coote no choice but to make a big call in Everton’s favour.
Just minutes were left but that was enough time for Dyche’s Everton and his favoured charge, Keane. For a long time the claim that Keane is his club’s best finisher has only been a half-joke, which perhaps says more about the recruitment problems that are much the reason for Everton’s struggles and which this article began with. But he has shown glimpses of his talent, most notably with the half-volley that kickstarted Everton’s survival-saving comeback against Crystal Palace last season. This time it was a 30-yard rocket that Keane added to his highlight reel. The man who adorned the front of the matchday programme became the unlikely hero in the unlikeliest of fashions.
This could have been a better night for Everton. They were on top before calamity struck. But it is another point, a fourth unbeaten game in a row and further evidence of just how different a beast Everton are under Dyche. And that could be priceless.
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