Everton have scored just two goals in Sean Dyche’s first five games - and both have come from defenders.
James Tarkowski’s header sealed a win over Arsenal in the new manager’s first game last month, then Seamus Coleman’s sensational effort secured a vital victory over Leeds United. Everton are creating more chances - and had recorded two shots on target to Arsenal’s zero before a chaotic five minutes before half-time cost them any chance of taking anything back to Merseyside when the sides met again in midweek at the Emirates.
Dyche’s options, as is well documented, are limited when Dominic Calvert-Lewin is unavailable, as he has been for recent weeks. Neal Maupay has led the line in the last few games but questions about the chances of Demarai Gray and Ellis Simms were high on the agenda at the pre-Nottingham Forest press conference. With that in mind, this is what Dyche said on the three most viable options for Everton’s forward line in Sunday's huge clash at the City Ground.
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Ellis Simms
Simms was recalled from his loan spell at Sunderland at the beginning of the January transfer window. With no signings following, he was the only new addition to the first-team squad during that month. The 22-year-old started at Anfield and has had opportunities from the bench. Asked how close he was to the first XI, Dyche said: “He’s a young player. He did well at Sunderland but there’s a gap between the Championship and the Premier League, and particularly for strikers I think it’s a tough role anyway. Working on your game going into the Premier League is not easy, he’s been working with the strikers group all the time. That will improve him on a day- to-day basis and showing him analysis, which will identify where he can improve his game, and working at all the little details will give him that improvement.”
Asked whether there was a danger of putting too much pressure on his shoulders, Dyche responded: “Yeah, but sometimes, where do you start the journey? Roy Keane went out on the Monday night after a reserve game had a few pints, and the next night he played at Anfield. Never looked back… Times have changed, we monitor their progress, we monitor when we think they’re ready. But at some point you still have to go: 'Go on then…' At some point you have to do that. With Dwight [McNeil] we did that at Burnley. He had just turned 18 and he never came out of the side. Sometimes players adapt very quickly, sometimes it takes time. I do think that it’s harder for young centre-halves and young centre-forwards. I think it’s tougher for them roles, but they still need to go in at some point.”
Neal Maupay
Maupay appears to have become the first-choice striker in Dyche’s 4-5-1. He is yet to score under the new manager - his only Everton goal having come in the win over West Ham United in September. But Dyche re-iterated his confidence in the French striker this week. He said: “You have to keep believing in what they can do. Neil has scored goals in the Premier League. He got one in four, what 26 goals in 102 at Brighton. Those are his stats. So he has got goals.”
Dyche went on to add: “Neal is doing the right things at the minute. He keeps getting in the box and finding chances, and it’s not easy just to find chances in the Premier League. So they will go in. We want other players to do the same. We want wide players driving in on the back post because we’re flashing crosses across the six yard area and not quite dominating the back post. They are basics but they still have to be done. We are trying to mix our game and affect the game in as many different ways as we can.”
Demarai Gray
Dyche has hinted that he sees Gray as having the potential to play up top, though the winger is yet to start in that role so far. Gray was Everton’s best player in Frank Lampard’s final games and provided a threat in a central forward role. Dyche said this week: “We tried him in a couple of different places since we’ve been here. He adds something different. But the team still has to be solid, we still have to find that balance. That’s what we have to do, find that balance.”
Dyche has spoken with Gray over his efforts to break into the starting line-up. His recent comments build on what he said on the same subject last month. Asked then what Gray needed to do to get into the side, he said: “I think just finding that balance of his talent, the work ethic of the group and how the group tactically play. That mixture. To find those combinations. I’ve already spoken to him about it, his role and his continued development and how he sees it. He’s still only 26 and he’s been in and out at clubs, Leicester and stuff like that. Finding that platform for consistency. And he shared that back - about when he found himself in that position in the past and could he find that consistency in the role and not just his technical performance but the actual role within a team. So I have been speaking to him about that.”
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