Sean Dyche has revealed his bond with and love for the Everton team, acknowledging that he both “cares” a great deal about the team and has high expectations of them.
Everton will play again this Friday night when they travel to Luton Town (kick-ff 8pm BST). This comes after an incredible week that saw the Blues secure three huge wins in the space of six days at Goodison Park against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, and then Brentford to help guarantee a 71st consecutive top-flight campaign.
Prior to the encounter, Dyche addressed the media during the press conference on Wednesday afternoon at Finch Farm. He discussed the Club’s success in ensuring their Premier League safety with three games remaining and also discussed his admiration for his players, particularly following such a difficult season.
According to Dyche, “the bigger picture in football is that it is a big challenge.” “I tell the players that I would talk to you like I would my own kid, who plays football. I believe it to be suitable for you if it meets the standards of my own son.
“I am concerned about their careers, I really am. I was lucky enough to be hired by Aidy Boothroyd at Watford because he always believed that I cared, and I do care. I’m concerned about their professional growth as well as their personal growth. I’ve held that to be true always.
Naturally, you still need to shape that into a winning team and hope that it is appropriate for the players to bring it up because, in my heart, I expect a lot of them and place a lot of pressure on the staff, myself, and the players. However, I believe that below all of that, despite the difficult situations I face and the things I occasionally have to say to them, they are aware of my concern for them.
Football is an incredible career, and it’s clear that players at this level are now compensated, but it’s still challenging. There is a ton of work that needs to be done, along with a lot of pressure, worry, and anxiety. However, there is affection and a bond amongst the players, staff, and manager.”
The home team, who are still in the drop zone and one point from safety, will have to deal with a different situation than the Blues, who will head south free of the pressure of a relegation struggle.
Though Dyche believed Everton would travel with the appropriate mindset to match the hosts and secure a positive outcome, he is all too aware of the desire Luton will have to grab what might be three crucial points in their struggle for survival.
He said, “[Luton] are still fighting; they’re still working.” “The Premier League is the Premier League, so we have to go there with the proper mindset. You have to get there with the proper mindset, which is what we plan to accomplish. We’d want to tackle it. We want to complete the season correctly and we want to win.
“In order to perform, we must descend there. We want to use the platform we gave ourselves to close off the season on a high note. Yes, I have already mentioned it. After we defeated Brentford, I made mention of going on the next one.
“I say that as long as you keep doing the right things, over a season, it balances out over the difficult stretch we had without wins. Yes, we continued to act morally. We need to win three out of three and four out of five before moving on to the next match.
“We want that mindset to endure, move on to face the next one, and pursue victory.”