“Dyche, change it you dinosaur,” screamed an Everton fan during the second half of their goalless Premier League draw against Brentford on Saturday.
Toffees boss Sean Dyche obliged shortly after by throwing on striker Beto and midfielder Orel Mangala but to no avail, as they failed to break down an opposition that played with 10 men for more than 45 minutes.
Everton go into December knowing they face Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, having not found the net in their past three games and their number nine Dominic Calvert-Lewin without a goal in his past eight games.
“It’s been a reality for a long time,” Dyche said of the team’s lack of goals, having scored only 10 in 12 games this term. “Developing people who score goals is the toughest challenge as a manager.
“We were conceding far too many so we had to change that. We changed it and now we have to stay effective on the offensive side.
“We have to find killer moments more often than not and we didn’t. It’s been a long-standing thing here. Most managers do it by chequebook, but we can’t do that so the development continues.”
Calvert-Lewin’s ‘head is elsewhere’
Everton number nine Calvert-Lewin joined the club from Sheffield United for £1.5m in 2016 and has gone on to score 56 goals in 225 Premier League appearances.
His most prolific campaign came in 2020-21 under Carlo Ancelotti, netting 21 goals in 39 games in all competitions, at a rate of a goal every 157 minutes.
But he has struggled to replicate that form under subsequent managers Rafael Benitez, Frank Lampard and Dyche, as lengthy fitness issues and lack of form means he has scored only five, two and eight goals in the past three seasons respectively, plus two more this term.
His contract expires in the summer and though talks began over a new deal with Calvert-Lewin in May, it remains on the table unsigned. Club sources say they remain hopeful of coming to an agreement with the player.
“That decision comes from Dominic,” former Everton captain Alan Stubbs told BBC Sport. “Everton as a club will not want to lose him for nothing, but for me, it looks like his head is elsewhere.
“We are at a crossroads for the next chapter of Dominic’s career and for Everton to move on.”
Just three years ago, Calvert-Lewin was a regular in the England set-up under Gareth Southgate, winning 11 caps for the Three Lions and scoring four goals.
Over the course of his Premier League career, the 27-year-old has scored a goal every 270 minutes, which compares closely to Brighton frontman and fellow Englishman Danny Welbeck, whose record stands at one every 268 minutes and is better than Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke’s rate of a goal every 292 minutes.
This season, Calvert-Lewin’s two goals from 12 games have come from an expected goal (xG) ratio of 3.89, while the likes of Welbeck, Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood and Brentford frontman Yoane Wissa have outperformed their xG.
Calvert-Lewin has been linked with moves to Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the past and Newcastle tried to do a deal for him in the summer. He can start speaking to clubs from abroad in January.
Would Everton miss him?
Their win ratio with and without him in the side is similar, standing at 35% when he plays compared to 33% when he doesn’t feature.
Everton ‘too one-dimensional and too predictable’
Since Dyche took charge in January 2023, the former Burnley boss has opted for a 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 formation, leaving Calvert-Lewin as the lone man up front and that lack of support has perhaps been to the detriment of his recent goalscoring record.
And that “change it Dyche” shout appears to have substance to it.
This season, Everton have made the fewest substitutions per game than any Premier League side and statistics show the first alteration is usually made after the hour mark.
The manager’s reluctance to adapt his template has meant Calvert-Lewin and fellow striker Beto have started just one game together since the Portuguese forward’s arrival on Merseyside at the beginning of last season.
Against the background of the lingering takeover talk, strict spending constraints leading to a threadbare squad and being docked points for breaching financial rules, Dyche has managed to stave off relegation for the past two seasons.
However, it looks like another battle for survival ahead this season, with Everton in 15th place, just three points above the drop zone.
Everton have lost only one of their past eight games but that was a 1-0 reverse at strugglers Southampton.
Club sources had said in September that Dyche’s position was “safe” as he had credit in the bank for the job done during his tenure and the takeover uncertainty has left the club in a state of flux, which probably means he clings on to his position until the purchase is complete.
But supporter and pundit sentiment appears to be shifting on the 53-year-old, whose win rate of 32.5% is lower than previous managers Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman and Marco Silva, who were all sacked.
“Rightly praised for the job he did in his first 18 months at the club, there is a sense within the fanbase that his race is run,” Everton fan Mike Richards wrote in his weekly column for BBC Sport.
At full-time on Saturday, the sentiment was clearly evident with loud jeers echoing around Goodison Park.
Dyche said of the reaction: “They can direct it at whoever they want. They expect us to win. I expect us to win.”
Stubbs added: “We are too one-dimensional and too predictable, teams can work us out easily. I see players that are tired mentally and physically drained.”
Asked if Dyche will remain as manager next season, Stubbs replied: “I personally don’t think so, the end of the season needs to be a clean slate for whoever is coming in.”
With the Friedkin Group’s takeover of the club looking like being completed next month, that treacherous run of games before the year is out could make or break Dyche’s tenure at Everton.