Exclusive: Sean Dyche on mission to take Everton up table - 'We're trying to change the whole culture'

Everton manager Sean Dyche says his players showed in last season’s relegation scrap that they are up for the "massive challenge" of the new Premier League campaign, as he seeks to "change the whole culture" of the club.

The Toffees haven't picked up a point or scored a goal in three league games ahead of Saturday’s clash with Sheffield United, live on TNT Sports.

The sluggish start has sparked fears that another relegation battle could await in the 2023/24 campaign - after Dyche oversaw a final-day win over Bournemouth last term to keep Everton up by two points.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Dyche explained how the nerve-shredding drama of 2022/23 can be looked at as a positive for the new campaign.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge going forwards, but it’s a challenge we’re all up for, and I think that’s one thing we made clear at the end of last season,” said Dyche.

“When the heat was really on the players delivered, I delivered, and we got the job done. Now we’ve got to keep doing that and build on top of that.

“It’s a tough start to the season but not necessarily performance-wise, because the performances have been good. We’ve got to score goals and then performances look even better, because you win.”

While many Evertonians will dream of loftier ambitions than maintaining their top-flight status for another year, Dyche is eager to temper expectations.

The Merseysiders finished 16th and 17th in the last two seasons, flirting with relegation on both occasions, and the former Burnley boss underlined that he must rebuild confidence before stating any grand ambitions.

“A successful season this season is to be better than last - and the one before that,” Dyche said.

“It’s been two really tough seasons, and we’re trying to change the whole culture and environment to push that all aside and forget that.

“Players can get normalised by that and the doom sets in very quickly because people are used to that scenario.

“We’ve got to change all that around. That’s our job – myself, the coaches and the players - to change that around. Not just with performances, because that’s all well and good, but you have to win. That’s it.

“Getting ourselves in a better shape than last season and the season before is the first challenge, before we worry about all else.”

One thing Dyche has been able to count on this time out is a full pre-season and more time to shape his own squad.

The 52-year-old was drafted in at Goodison Park in January to replace Frank Lampard with the club second-bottom in the Premier League standings, and he insists he was under no illusions about the situation he was walking into at the time.

“There was a massive challenge when I got here,” said Dyche.

“That didn’t change, because in the summer we lost players who were coming out of contract for financial and business reasons.

“We’ve had to work very hard in the market to try and readjust situations. We’ve had a lot of injuries, which doesn’t help. We’re still working hard in the market.

“I came in here with my eyes wide open. I was aware that it was a challenge, that was obvious, because it’s been two years – maybe Evertonians say even longer than that – where things have not quite been on a level playing field, with all kinds of ups and downs and the team struggling a bit.

“I wasn’t expecting it to just turn around overnight and I said even at the end of last season when we got the job done that there is a massive amount of work to be done.

“I believe that. It was just the reality, it wasn’t positive or negative, it was just how I see it.”

The Everton job is Dyche’s first since his hugely successful spell at Burnley came to an end in April 2022 after nine-and-a-half years.

He led the Clarets to Premier League promotion twice, kept them in the top flight for six successive seasons, and qualified for Europe for the first time in more than 50 years through a seventh-place finish in 2017/18.

Although Dyche has again found himself tasked with keeping a club in the Premier League, he doesn’t see many more parallels between Burnley and Everton – and knows he is unlikely to be offered as much patience at Goodison Park as he enjoyed in Lancashire.

“[Everton] is a different kind of animal than Burnley. It’s a different project here, it’s a different feel, a different culture,” he says. "There’s a higher demand, it’s a bigger concern. There are all those things to be factored in.

“Although I’m using some of my learnings from being at Burnley and what we did there over many years, I’m also aware of the truth of this situation and how quickly we have to adapt to that.

“Yes, I want to build something, but it has to be super-fast. It has to be fast-tracked because the demand here is higher and everyone wants it yesterday. You can’t wait two years for the project to get to where it needs to be, it’s trying to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Everton travel to Sheffield United on Saturday, September 2, live on TNT Sports, with kick-off at 12:30 UK time.

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