Athletic journalist sports ‘weird’ and ‘ugly’ Sean Dyche tactic at Everton, reminiscent of Burnley spell

Sean Dyche uses a “weird” tactic at Everton whereby he treats deep free kicks as attacking set pieces, according to The Athletic’s John Muller.

Muller noted that the Toffees manager uses the long set piece to push the majority of his players forward as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford sends the ball into the box.

The Merseyside club currently occupy 16th place in the Premier League table with 11 points from their 11 matches so far.

“Call his football ugly if you want, call it primitive or old-fashioned, but on this one he’s probably right,” Muller wrote for The Athletic. “In general, a free kick taken between a team’s own third and the halfway line - which we’ll call a ‘deep free kick’ - is worthless.

“There’s a reason you don’t pay attention to fouls in that part of the pitch. Most teams will simply tap the ball sideways and get back to building up as though play never stopped.

“But Dyche’s teams don’t do that. His Everton side today, like Burnley when he previously managed them, treat deep free kicks as an attacking set piece. If you’re used to watching other top-flight teams, this can look… weird.”

Smart tactic?

Goals have been very hard to come by for the Toffees, not only this season but in the last couple of seasons, where the club have been heavily involved in relegation battles.

It was particularly worrying last time out, but midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure was on hand to save the day as he netted in the final match of the Premier League campaign against Bournemouth.

Things haven’t really improved this time around, with the Merseyside outfit winning just three of their 11 matches so far.

Dyche has guided his club to wins against Brentford, Bournemouth and West Ham, but the boss has also overseen two draws and six losses this term.

It is, therefore, certainly not a bad idea to make use of long free kicks, with towering centre-backs James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite more than capable of capitalising in the area.  

They will be keen to have an impact in the final third when the Toffees take on Crystal Palace on Saturday (11 November).

In other Everton news, a former Toffees chief has shared a Dyche “stability” prediction at the Goodison Park club.