(Reuters) – Finding the right players to balance out his misfiring Everton team will be a tough task, manager Sean Dyche said on Thursday, adding that he was still learning about the recruitment mistakes the relegation-threatened club made in the past.
Everton, who are third-bottom in the Premier League on 22 points from 26 matches, brought in Dyche in January as a replacement for Frank Lampard, and the 51-year-old has led the team to two wins, three defeats and a draw since taking charge.
Everton’s transfer policy under owner Farhad Moshiri has been criticised in recent years, with the club spending heavily for several seasons with little to no improvement to show for it on the pitch.
“Recruitment is difficult,” Dyche told reporters ahead of Everton’s home game against ninth-placed Brentford on Saturday. “I’m learning about the past, if you like, and decisions, the rights, wrongs, ins and outs.
“Over the years we’ve seen clubs in general putting lots of money into the situation and it doesn’t always work.
“We are overloaded in certain areas. Of course, (the lack of) striking options are plain to see, but it’s not just about that. It’s about forming a group that is stronger going forward.”
Chief among Everton’s problems this season has been a lack of goals.
The Merseyside club have scored the joint-fewest goals in the league so far this season with 19, the same as Wolverhampton Wanderers, and have struggled to break down opponents without injured striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Dyche hinted that Calvert-Lewin, who has missed most of the last two seasons with a succession of injuries — the latest being a hamstring problem — was closing in on a return just in time to help kick start Everton’s fight for survival.
“He’s just got on the grass with us,” Dyche said. “He’s done a lot of rehab… and the way he’s feeling is good. Positive signs, that’s for sure.”
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
