There is a “growing belief” among Sean Dyche’s players that Everton’s encouraging performances will be rewarded with victories.
On Monday night (8 pm GMT), the Blues will host Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. Both teams will be trying to get back after recent losses.
Though they haven’t won much recently, Everton has had a difficult run of games. In their previous four league games, they have faced three of the Premier League’s current top five clubs; they have drawn with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa but lost last weekend at Manchester City.
Even yet, Everton has played well on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, finishing tenth in the league in terms of shots (327) and non-penalty anticipated goals (36) this season. Only Liverpool and Arsenal (15) have let up fewer goals from open play than the Toffees (16).
With just five points separating Everton and Palace going into their meeting on Monday, manager Sean Dyche insists his team will have a steady approach despite the “noise” surrounding the game, which he believes is becoming better.
During Saturday’s pre-game press conference, Dyche stated, “I think the noise around it changes, but at the end of the day, the mentality we’ve been trying to build here is that every game is a big game here; every game is an important game, so we find that consistency in the mentality of the group.”
“I believe the organization has a belief. It goes beyond merely my faith in them. They now seem to possess more of it, in my opinion. I believe their demands have increased collectively. They push each other harder, and I believe it has had some benefits.
It’s sometimes your responsibility as players, coaches, and managers to examine the real results and evaluate how we’re doing as well as the performances. We’ve faced some really difficult teams, and in at least a few of those contests, we were only a hair’s breadth from victory.
“You have to put it into action despite all the noise—xG, and I have utilized it personally because of how intense it has been. I’ve talked about it repeatedly with the players. It’s all well and well to talk about good XG, good performances, and everything else. However, we are impatient for it to occur. The next stage is to make it happen. We’re close to it, in my opinion.
This season’s fourth match between Everton and Crystal Palace will take place on Monday evening. The Blues advanced through two legs of the FA Cup and won a thrilling late victory at Selhurst Park in the Premier League rematch.
Dyche doesn’t think the frequency of games—the most recent of which was played a month ago—will have much of an effect on Monday’s match.
“I believe that most Premier League players are aware of one another’s backgrounds,” he remarked. While it is true that managers and coaches can occasionally alter things, most teams normally get along well with one another.
It has to do with performing. Every day, I talk about it with our guys. We have to perform, and I’ve been discussing the idea of consistent performances with the group ever since I arrived. This season has been really good, in my opinion. The trick is to translate those reliable performances into victories. This season, we’ve done it to some extent. We must repeat the process.”
The Eagles travel to Merseyside with Roy Hodgson’s management status still up in the air. The club may be prepared to replace Hodgson, according to media reports that surfaced over the weekend. Palace has won three of its last 19 games in all competitions.
However, Dyche reiterated that his players and making sure they “take the game on” are his main priorities.
He continued, “I think the mindset has to be appropriate for us.” “It has nothing to do with us if something is wrong on their end. It’s beneficial if it throws them off balance, but you can also make the opposite happen. Will that scenario inspire them more? Who knows?
Although we have a tactical understanding and are aware of the competition, we have always maintained the simple belief that it is all about us. The game needs to be about us, especially at Goodison. We have to have the mindset that says we want to challenge the game.
“The participants are conscious. They are all aware of the situation because football is such a huge topic of coverage. We concentrate on our current task.”