Everton picked up another point last time out. You know how it goes. It’s a coin with two sides, to be sure. From one standpoint, the Blues have lost just once across eight Premier League fixtures, but from the other, Sean Dyche’s tactics leave plenty to the imagination.
What to do? The Friedkin Group are closing in on a takeover, ending Iranian tycoon Farhad Moshiri’s unsuccessful reign as the top brass at Goodison Park. Should Dyche follow?
It feels like the pragmatic manager is treading close to the precipice, but whether he falls or steadies himself and his side remains to be seen.
In any case, Everton are eager to assess their options and are considering bringing one well-known gaffer to the Blue stretches of Merseyside.
Everton's potential Dyche replacements
According to scout Mick Brown, via Football Insider last month, David Moyes would be keen on taking over from Dyche if Everton decide to sack the 53-year-old in the coming weeks.
01/12/24
Man United
Old Trafford
04/12/243
Wolves
Molineux
07/12/24
Liverpool
Goodison Park
14/12/24
Arsenal
Emirates Stadium
22/12/24
Chelsea
Goodison Park
26/12/24
Man City
Etihad Stadium
29/12/24
Nott’m Forest
Goodison Park
Dyche’s outfit are 16th but a gruelling winter period awaits and trepidation concerning Dyche’s ability to pass through this span is building.
He’s a wanted man though. While managerless Leicester City appear to have distanced themselves from rumours, TEAMtalk revealed last month that Crystal Palace would be interested if Oliver Glasner is relieved of his duties.
Everton need to pounce. It might just re-energise their frontline.
Why Everton should appoint David Moyes
Moyes, of course, knows the streets of Liverpool well. Way back when, he served as Everton’s manager, triumphed as Everton’s manager, leading the Toffees out 518 times across an 11-year period before Manchester United anointed him as Sir Alex Ferguson’s heir.
He left his role as West Ham United manager at the end of the 2023/24 season, mutual consent, after his tactics and managerial rule gave rise to the most illustrious spell in the east Londoners’ modern history, winning the Conference League in 2022 – a feat that Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher praised as “special.”
Now, Moyes is chomping at the bit to get stuck into Premier League action once again and could be the perfect fit to reunite with Everton as they move to a new stadium and begin a new era.
Its’ been 11 years since Moyes, now 61, left Merseyside, and he’s not the same manager anymore. Even so, his tactical disposition and preferred 4-2-3-1 formation would not differ too greatly from Dyche’s but would see tweaks that could maximise the wide players. Mohammed Kudus at West Ham, for example, enjoyed great success under the Scotsman last term.
Therefore, Moyes could prove to be the perfect tactician to take Iliman Ndiaye to another level, with the Senegalese star enjoying a rich season at Goodison Park so far.
Ndiaye has scored three goals across 14 appearances for the Irons this season after Dyche signed Marseille’s talent for a £17m fee in the summer.
Across the Premier League campaign, so far, the data makes an exciting comment on his future success too, for Ndiaye has averaged 2.3 dribbles, 6.1 ball recoveries and 5.7 successful duels per game, as per Sofascore, which basically means that he is operating with an all-encompassing approach, determined to make an impact across a range of roles.
This is crucial for Dyche’s system, and you can be sure that Moyes will expect his players, no matter where they perform, positionally, to subscribe to such tactical ideas too.
Further corroboration: he ranks among the top 13% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Premier League this season for pass completion, the top 4% for successful take-ons and the top 18% for tackles made per 90, as per FBref, speaking of ball-carrying brilliance that aligns with that of Kudus.
A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.
West Ham enjoyed some fine individual results from Kudus last season – as the forward provided 20 goals and assists in east London – and now, if Moyes were to take the helm, that could be replicated at Everton, providing an injection of attacking inspiration to take the Merseysiders away from the pit of the Premier League.
Pundit Micah Richard claimed last season, on The Rest Is Football podcast, that Moyes “doesn’t always get the appreciation he deserves” in regard to his football philosophy, with his “wisdom within the game” allowing his sides to exceed expectations.
That kind of nous is needed at Everton, to be sure. The forwards at the club are struggling to finish, and there is only so much coaching that can be put toward this kind of instinctive thing, but creativity is also drying up too, with Everton’s 17 big chances created in the Premier League this term one better than Southampton (16) who suffer the measliest creative record in the division.
Some segments of the support base might wish for a radicalised managerial approach to provide the club with the slick and stylish football that every football fan wants to see their club perform, but wishes must be tempered with realism here.
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Dyche’s style does not differ all that greatly from Moyes’, but with the results not coming, a more experienced head with a trophy-winning record might prevail.
Moyes knows the club, and he took the reins at West Ham when things were colourless and concerning, lifting them toward the European light.
Can he repeat that feat?
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