MORE THAN JUST A 4-4-2?

SEAN DYCHE was renowned for his classic 4-4-2 system at Burnley. Will he do the same at Everton? Dyche revealed the principles of his sytem in The Coaches’ Voice. Here are the key points.

1 ‘Crunch the pitch’ – Dyche wants his team to keep opponents playing on one side of the pitch and force them to hit long diagonal balls. Here you can see all his players have shifted across.

2 ‘Protect the V’ – Dyche tells his defence and midfield to protect this most dangerous area of the pitch at all costs. Tarkowski will know this better than most from his time at Burnley.

3 Hardworking wingers – ‘Transitions kill you in the Premier League,’ says Dyche. His winger tucks in to be more compact if they lose the ball (1) and track back to crowd the box in defence (2).

4 Play the ball forward – You may call it hopeful punts, Dyche says otherwise. He used Kieran Trippier’s passing to take out the crowded midfield and get the ball to his front men. ‘Are you going to tell Glenn Hoddle to only play 10-yard passes? I don’t think so.’ If opponents play a high line, Dyche wants to play quickly into the space behind.

5 Striker who can defend – Yes, it’s a 4-4-2 on paper but Dyche often likes one of his front men to be good defensively and drop in to mark the opposition’s deep-lying midfielder, especially against big sides away from home. He used the likes of Jeff Hendrick or Ashley Barnes in the past to turn the formation into a 4-4-1-1. Could Neal Maupay do the job at Everton?

Dyche has got a job on his hands. Everton have a O worse record after 20 games than when they were relegated in 1950-51.