Jonty Banks

Sat 11 February 2023 12:10, UK

Stan Collymore has urged Sean Dyche to rekindle the club’s old nickname of the “Dogs of War” to propel his Everton side away from the Premier League relegation zone.

Dyche’s era at Goodison Park got off to the ideal start with a spirited and thoroughly deserved 1-0 win against league-leaders Arsenal last week – a win which takes them to within two points of Wolves in 15th place.

And in his column for CaughtOffiside prior to Everton’s Merseyside derby against Liverpool (Monday 13 February), pundit Collymore has suggested that the Toffees should look to cause teams trouble with their physicality and willingness to fight to the final whistle.

He said: “Everton got a huge win against Arsenal last weekend by putting their bodies on the line. They didn’t allow the Gunners any time to play and once they’d broken their spirit, were then able to play themselves.

“Back when I played, we nicknamed Everton the ‘Dogs of War’, and that wasn’t because they were brutes who just wanted to scrap on the pitch, it was because they were a team prepared to die fighting for the cause. 

“They had some top players who could really play, Duncan Ferguson for example, but we called them that because of how tenacious they were. They’d make your lives a misery for those 90 minutes and once they’d broken you, they’d play their game and it used to work, so it has to be back to the future for Sean Dyche.

“Dyche needs to channel his inner Joe Royle, who was the Toffees’ boss back then and really get his Everton team fighting for each other again. It’s how they beat Arsenal and it’s how I expect them to take at least take a point from arch-rivals Liverpool during the Merseyside Derby on Monday.”

Perfect man for the job

Collymore is clearly singing from the same hymn sheet as Dyche here, and this seems like it could be the only way to get Everton to consistently win football matches again.

The club tried to play a tactical-based game under Carlo Ancelotti to no avail before attempting to play a more ambitious style of play under Frank Lampard, which we all know failed to meet the grade.

Clearly, the current Everton squad are suited to this aggressive, relentless game plan that Collymore mentions – with midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana well-known for their impressive engines in the middle of the park.

This defensive-orientated set-up doesn’t have to be a boring watch, however, as the Toffees showed against Arsenal. The likes of Onana and Dwight McNeil were at their very best for the clash at Goodison Park and proved to be a real threat on the counter-attack.

And against a Liverpool side who have lacked leaders and looked somewhat feeble in recent weeks, Dyche can catch Jurgen Klopp’s side off guard with the “Dogs of War” mentality.