The Premier League season has passed the halfway stage but Everton are in trouble again, with only three victories.
It looks like another fight for survival for the Toffees, teetering two places and just one point above the relegation zone.
The goals have dried up, there is little creativity in the team and supporter sentiment appears to have worn away.
Manager Sean Dyche has kept the club in the top flight for the past two seasons – but with the side’s recent abject showings, his contract expiring at the end of the season and the Friedkin Group takeover ushering in a new era, questions are being raised about his future.
On the back of a five-game winless run, the Blues host League One strugglers Peterborough in the FA Cup third round on Thursday knowing defeat won’t help Dyche’s cause.
A report on Monday suggested owners the Friedkin Group are “reviewing” his work and Dyche, speaking in his pre-match news conference on Tuesday, said: “To be clear, it should be [reviewed].
“At the end of the day, if you are a business of this size, succession planning surely should be part of their diligence, I have no problem with that.
“It should be ongoing at any football club and a part of any ‘normal’ business outside football. I never really concern myself with that – but have got to win games.
“We have not won enough this season, [I need to] make sure the team is operating in the right way and please everyone all of the time. That is the job, we haven’t done that enough and it comes down to me.”
On Monday evening, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher produced a damning breakdown of Everton’s creativity, calling them a “throwback” to Premier League teams of the 1990s.
Dyche has highlighted that goalscoring has been an issue at the club for “four or five years” – a “long time” before his arrival in January 2023.
That trend has continued this season with Everton scoring a sorry 15 goals in their 19 league games, with only bottom side Southampton – currently on course for the Premier League’s lowest points tally – having netted fewer with 12.
Digging further into the numbers makes for grim reading:
Only in three seasons in Everton’s history have they scored fewer goals after playing this number of league games.
They currently have the division’s lowest expected goals (xG) rate at 18.33.
The Merseysiders have had 63 shots on target this season. The Saints are the only side to fare worse with a lowly 58.
They had zero shots on target in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Bournemouth and the goalless draw at Arsenal last month.
Everton’s goals per game rate of 0.79 is the lowest number for the team in the past 13 seasons. It has dropped from 1.05 last term and 0.89 in 2022-23.
Former Toffees midfielder Leon Osman said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club (MNC): “Everton have not scored in 11 of 19 games this season. Doing commentaries on their games is not easy at the moment because not much happens.
“I do think there is a lack of quality in the squad but anyone will tell you, you should still be creating chances and scoring goals. It is tough to watch.
“In the past 10 games, Craig Dawson is Everton’s top scorer having scored two own goals in that game (4-0 win over Wolves).”
Everton’s predictable style of football means their strikers have found it a struggle to fire – Dominic Calvert-Lewin (2), Beto (1) and Armando Broja have netted three goals between them.
Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil are the top scorers with three apiece and there is a stark drop-off when McNeil is not in the side.
McNeil is a player Dyche knows well from his time at Burnley and someone he can rely on, but the 25-year-old has missed the past five games because of a knee injury.
The midfielder is key to Everton’s play in the final third, providing three assists in addition to his goals this season, and creating 33 chances – by far an outlier in the squad, with full-back Ashley Young and midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure are next on the list with 17.
“No shots on target. No attacking intent. That seems to be the MO [method of operation] currently,” Toffees fan Mike Richards wrote for BBC Sport’s Fan’s Voice.
“Bournemouth fans taunted us with: ‘How do you watch this every week?’ We have become somewhat of a laughing stock.
“A manager out of ideas and a fanbase on its knees once again.”
Asked if the fans are still on his side, Dyche replied: “They can decide that. I have never questioned them.
“If they choose to back me and the team, that would be helpful; if they choose not to, then they have the freedom to make their choices.”
The Friedkin Group are in position after completing their takeover of Everton in December and will be assessing all facets of the club.
But the most pressing concern will be the position of boss Dyche and they now have a decision to make – do they attempt to see out the season with him in charge, hoping they stay up, or roll the dice and make a change?
Speculation is rife and there are some reports – not verified by BBC Sport – suggesting Everton are in talks with the out-of-work Graham Potter.
On Tuesday Dyche said the owners “certainly have not told me that” and both Everton and Potter have been approached to provide a comment by BBC Sport.
With Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) ringing loudly in the ears of Everton after their points deductions last season, Dyche said there are “parameters” in signing players this month and generally doing transfer business in January is “very tough”.
Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said on MNC: “[Not being able to spend] has gone against Sean Dyche and I do sense a large part of the fanbase has turned against him.
“It is about Everton staying in the Premier League – the takeover has happened now – moving to the new stadium next season and moving on. I suspect Dyche will be lucky to be there next season because of the way things have turned.”
In his Monday Night Football analysis on Sky Sports, ex-Liverpool defender Carragher suggested Dyche remains the best person for the job as his achievements with Burnley and Everton gives the club a “great chance” of survival.
“For me, I would keep Sean Dyche in that position because it is almost a guarantee,.
“The fact that they have a stadium coming, it is imperative they are in this division next season.”
A defiant Dyche said on Tuesday: “Here, it has been extremely difficult. There is a huge demand on me, on the situation and it is a constant – that is part of Everton life.
“I have adapted to it, taken it on, had my knocks and getting them again and it is about how you handle it.
“The club is always bigger than me, I am a custodian and so far I have handled it pretty well.”
