Alan Shearer wowed by what he saw Sean Dyche do on touchline in Everton win v Arsenal
BBC pundit Alan Shearer praised Sean Dyche for a tactical change that helped Everton record a crucial three points over Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday [4 February].
The new Blues manager enjoyed a dream start as Everton boss following his appointment on Monday [30 January] as his much-improved and resilient Toffees side stunned Premier League leaders Arsenal thanks to a James Tarkowski 60th-minute winner.
And the hosts picked up their first victory in 11 games in all competitions, bringing them level on points with Leeds United, but remain in the drop zone on 18 points.
With the Toffees putting in a resilient and spirited showing in defence, they still failed to muster up any goal-scoring opportunities, and Dyche performed a tactical tweak which led to Everton becoming more dangerous.
And Shearer, speaking on BBC Match of the Day [4 February, 13m57s] praised the former Burnley boss for his tactical change involving his wingers Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi. He said:
“There were several good things about their performance but this was one of them. In the first 20 minutes, I thought Everton were struggling a little bit because they had Iwobi left and McNeil right-hand side and then they were far too far away from Calvert-Lewin.”
“But, after about 20 minutes, an Arsenal player goes down injured and Sean Dyche and his staff say to McNeil you come to the left-hand side, Iwobi you go over to the other side and get closer to Calvert-Lewin, and that’s exactly what happened. Ball up to him, and all of a sudden, yes, they’re both closer to him but more importantly, he wins and they’re into the final third and causing problems.”
Sensational performance
It was a sensational performance from the Toffees against a team flying high in the Premier League table, and did not record any league defeat since September, and a lot of praise will have to go to Dyche and his players for restricting Arsenal to so little goal-scoring opportunities.
The Gunners simply could not play their fluid and exciting possession and positional football because of the dogged and aggressive nature of Dyche’s men both in defence and when pressing against the ball.
Dyche provided a small blueprint of how the Toffees can indeed move forward and climb up the table.
Certainly, the month of January proved an unsuccessful one because of their lack of transfer business but Dyche is known for getting the best out of the players at his disposal and that was shown through the performances of McNeil and Iwobi who were both superb in their efforts on Saturday.
For the Toffees to continue picking up points and carry on their momentum since Dyche’s arrival, they must indeed get their attacking players closer to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, something which proved difficult and impossible under Frank Lampard. Dyche achieved this in just 90 minutes.