Pete Hanson

Fri 14 July 2023 13:10, UK

Everton stars are embracing Sean Dyche’s demand to put in the hard yards during a pre-season camp in Evian, according to the Liverpool Echo’s Chris Beesley.

The Toffees are being put through their paces in France, with Dyche living up to his reputation for demanding graft from his squad.

Everton have spent the last two seasons scrapping at the bottom of the table, and Beesley wrote that the squad have no qualms putting in the graft.

“Everton’s players are certainly working hard here but they’re doing so with a smile on their faces,” Beesley wrote.

“There’s no sign of the potential grumblers and ‘bar lowerers’ that Dyche’s predecessor Frank Lampard, a world-class talent and serial winner as a player but nevertheless the manager who was taking the Blues down for the first time since 1951 on his watch, spoke about in The Diary Of A CEO Podcast.

“It would seem that there is an acceptance and realisation here, one that is being embraced willingly and not begrudgingly that in order to improve and get the most out of their potential, this Frankenstein’s monster of a squad, assembled by an assortment of Everton managers with wildly varied football philosophies, needs to put in the hard yards, even if that annual Dyche pre-season ritual of ‘Gaffer’s Day’ is being saved for when they return home next week.”

Back to basics

There is no dressing up the fact that the mood at Everton over the past couple of years has been pretty grim.

On the pitch, a mish-mesh of a squad has struggled down at the bottom of the Premier League, surviving last season only courtesy of a last-day win over Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

Off it, there have been issues too. Everton have struggled with Financial Fair Play constraints, which is in turn affecting their ability to be active in the transfer market – thus far only 38-year-old full-back Ashley Young has been signed.

But in Dyche, Everton have a manager who will not use excuses and he is taking the team back to basics. He is ensuring everyone puts in the hours and the long yards during pre-season, and making the maximum effort prior to the campaign ahead.

Whether it yields a turnaround in fortunes is yet to be seen but after two seasons of dismal displays, Dyche is at least putting in the foundations to try and begin an upturn in Everton’s situation.

In other Everton news, Patrice Evra has sent a two-word message to Ashley Young following his arrival at Goodison Park.