Robbie Savage rages over ‘double standards’ for Everton boss Sean Dyche
Robbie Savage has hit out over the “double standards” for Sean Dyche with Everton in the Premier League.
The Toffees have had a tough start to this season and currently find themselves sitting just five points above the relegation zone.
However, they picked up their third win of the season on Wednesday [4 December] as they thrashed Wolves 4-0, scoring all of their goals from set-pieces.
Their lack of goals from open play led to criticism of Dyche’s methods but Robbie Savage has hit back at these complaints as he wrote in the Daily Mirror [7 December, page 61]: “Arsenal score two goals from set-pieces against Manchester United and Mikel Arteta is a genius.
“But when Everton score four goals from set-pieces against Wolves, Sean Dyche is functional, a pragmatist, a route-one merchant.
“The double standards by which some managers are judged has always baffled me. No manager in the Premier League is more underrated by Dyche – because the job he has done at Goodison Park has been phenomenal.
“He kept the ship steady when Everton were hit with two points deductions last season and they stayed up comfortably where other clubs might have been shot to pieces.
“And then he kept his nerve when they lost their first four games this term – two of them traumatic defeats where they lost a two-goal lead.”
Does Sean Dyche deserve all the criticism he’s getting at Everton?
The Toffees’ form this season has resulted in plenty of pressure being put on the manager with his future at Goodison Park in doubt.
Savage makes some fair points in terms of the double standards the 53-year-old is held to in the Premier League because the fact that his side won a game 4-0 was surely more important than where the goals came from, especially as Arsenal are currently receiving praise for their abilities when it comes to set-pieces.
However, the criticism of the boss is not completely unfair either. While it has been a difficult time at Goodison for a number of years now which has not made it easy for the manager, the position they currently find themselves in is not acceptable and if something is not fixed soon then they will no doubt be in a relegation battle.
With the game against Liverpool postponed due to Storm Darragh, the Blues now have a week to prepare for a game against Arsenal which could surely be a game that comes down to the set-pieces.
In other Everton news, The Friedkin Group are in talks amid a £660million takeover ‘burden’.
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