Everton welcome Crystal Palace to Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, and Sean Dyche will know that a poor result will leave him skidding on the thinnest of ice.
Five matches have yielded one draw and four defeats in the Premier League so far, and while a sliver of respite can be taken in the fact that Everton have led in each of their past matches, a more cynical outlook would point toward a lack of togetherness and confidence.
Dyche has always always prided himself in the strength and discipline of his teams. Unity and coherence wrapped inside a drilled understanding of defensive duties and how to shuttle the ball forward in direct sequences. This year, so far, Everton’s defence is fragile and shaky, and things do not look good.
Only… The Friedkin Group are set to complete a majority takeover from Farhad Moshiri, and the Merseysiders could finally have a new direction to end these gloomy and interminable seasons of struggle.
Will Dyche front this project? He’ll be out the door in a flash if he doesn’t turn things around, with Everton sniffing around for an exciting replacement.
Everton already considering Sean Dyche replacement
Should Dyche be dismissed, former Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter has been earmarked. According to reports from Football Insider last weekend, the tactician is very interested in taking the Everton job, should it become available in the coming weeks or months.
Potter has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in April 2023, less than seven months into his tenure. He can’t take all the blame, though, for the Blues were a turbulent mess and Potter was simply unable to bring it all together.
At Everton, he could find the start of an exciting new project, one that embraces his methodologies as it looks to pull away from the route-one football that Dyche designs. Potter has been hailed as “a genius” by journalist Sam Morton.
He champions interchangeable formations and fluid football, always keen to retain the ball and drive it forward though – Potter could be the new stylistic injection to send Everton back into the ascendancy after so long away.
But he could also lift that aforesaid defensive fragility, patch it up and make it into something new. Indeed, he might even be the perfect manager to turn Jarrad Branthwaite into a world-beater.
Why Potter could make Branthwaite unplayable
Talent scout Jacek Kulig called Branthwaite an “absolute monster” for his performances at the rear last season, excelling alongside the industrious and experienced James Tarkowski and keeping 12 clean sheets from 35 matches, incredibly winning 68% of his duels.
1.
Arsenal
18
2.
Man City
17
3.
Everton
13
4.
Liverpool
10
5.
Fulham
10
He’s a titan of a player. At 6 foot 5, Branthwaite is framed to succeed as a centre-half, but he does need to work on his distribution.
Of course, Dyche’s system precludes Everton defenders from playing like Sergio Ramos. Last season, the Goodison Park side posted an average possession of just 41%.
Centre-backs like Branthwaite were and still are expected to make clearances and defend Jordan Pickford’s goal as a dog would defend a bone in a kennel. It worked.
It also, however, meant that the 22-year-old was unable to implement a fluid passing game. As per FBref, he ranked among the bottom 28% of Premier League centre-backs last season for pass completion, the bottom 18% for progressive passes and the bottom 18% for passes attempted.
This is where Potter comes in. The English manager likes to enforce a flexible system that promotes slick passing and enhances high-energy pressing.
In 2021/22, his final full season with Brighton, Potter recorded a 54.4% possession average in the Premier League – the fourth-highest in the division and finished ninth in the table.
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His centre-backs embodied this control-focused style. Captain Lewis Dunk ranked among the top 18% of Premier League defenders for pass completion, whereas the more dynamic Adam Webster ranked among the top 15% for passes attempted and the top 2% for progressive passes per 90. Branthwaite need only find the right manager to guide him to prominence, he’s already demonstrated such prodigious potential.
Former CEO Keith Wyness has proclaimed Branthwaite a “generational” talent, which is high praise indeed. But he’s the talk of the town for a reason and could be the difference-maker for imperilled Everton this year.
If Dyche is dismissed and Potter brought in, there’s a real chance that he could sharpen the ball-playing skills needed to rise to that next level. The 49-year-old might even fashion him into the best in the Premier League.
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