Paul Brown shares ‘didn’t happen’ Everton admission after Manchester United loss as ‘dogs of war’ claim made
Journalist Paul Brown “didn’t see” much of the passion that Sean Dyche and some Everton players had talked about before the Manchester United match.
The Toffees met the Red Devils at Goodison Park on Sunday (26 November) in their first match since being handed a 10-point deduction.
Everton lost the Premier League clash 3-0, with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial on the scoresheet.
“Yeah, so I saw some people trying to suggest maybe that the points deduction has affected the players and that it’s a mental blow that’s hurt their performances at a time when they were playing quite well,” Brown told GIVEMESPORT (28 November).
“I’m pretty sure that had Everton won the game, the opposite would also have been said. Maybe the points deduction galvanised them. They certainly spent all week talking about how they built up a siege mentality and how it was going to be dogs of war and that this was going to spur them on. It didn’t happen, really.
“They didn’t play too badly. They created chances but I didn’t see a lot of the passion that Dyche and some of his players had been talking about all week.”
Anti-climax
It certainly was an anti-climax at Goodison Park, with the home supporters really getting up for the Premier League clash against Erik ten Hag’s men.
But it was the visitors who left the stadium feeling much happier, scoring three times and keeping a clean sheet as they clinched all three points.
It was perhaps always going to go one of two ways for the home fans, who were hoping that their players would be more than up for the challenge after the 10-point deduction.
The Toffees did create plenty of chances, but in the end they could not find the back of the net, with their defence failing at key moments.
Fortunately for Everton, bottom club Burnley also lost at the weekend to stay below the Toffees in the table, with West Ham defeating the Clarets 2-1 on Saturday (25 November). A huge three points will be up for grabs very soon when Dyche takes his club to Turf Moor next month.
In other Everton news, Peter Reid has shared what drove him “mad” about the 10-point deduction handed to the Toffees.