Sean Dyche is still awaiting information on his budget for the upcoming summer and has acknowledged the possibility of selling players to finance a squad rebuild, writes the LiverpoolEcho. Following Everton’s survival in the Premier League on the final day of the season, the Blues’ manager expressed a combative stance, emphasizing the need for significant change to address the chronic underperformance of a major club.
Now that his focus can shift to long-term aspirations, Dyche emphasized the importance of instilling fundamental principles throughout the club, extending beyond just the players at Finch Farm to those in positions of authority. There is also a pressing need to strengthen a thin squad, which forced Dyche to employ innovative strategies in the crucial closing weeks of the campaign.
Speaking after Abdoulaye Doucoure’s exceptional half-volley secured the victory that ensured Everton’s 70th consecutive year in the top flight, Dyche admitted to being unaware of the resources that would be at his disposal during the summer transfer window. However, he clarified that it would not be the extravagant “war chest” provided to previous managers during Farhad Moshiri’s tenure as majority shareholder.
During that period, Everton has spent over half a billion pounds in the transfer market. The outcome, as Dyche discovered to his disadvantage, is a fragmented squad assembled by seven managers and three directors of football. In the crucial match against Bournemouth, which could be considered one of the most significant in Everton’s history, recruitment shortcomings were exacerbated by injuries, leaving Dyche without a recognized first-team full-back and lacking a potent forward line.
Dyche said: “You’ve seen the squad today and that’s as stretched as I’ve ever seen it. And do you know what, if we didn’t get it done today no-one would have cared. No-one would have said: ‘He’s had nothing to work with.’ They would have just said: ‘He didn’t get it done.’ That’s the life of a football manager, I understand that.”
When questioned about the possibility of having to sell valuable assets to finance a reconstruction, he responded, “There’s a chance. I’ll find out about that. There’s not been any depth, there have been peripheral talks based on ifs, buts and maybes. But that will come over the coming weeks when we find out the truth of what we have got, what we can do, what we can’t do.
“First things first but this was the main job. We had to get this sorted out, we’ve got it over the line. It was absolutely the key focus. Now it is time to immediately re-focus on the rest of it.”