Despite the familiar atmosphere at Goodison Park in recent times, Everton manager Sean Dyche is urging his players to disregard the distractions and concentrate on their upcoming task, writes the IE.
In their next match against Bournemouth, Everton will need to outperform both Leeds United and Leicester City in order to avoid relegation from the top flight, a fate they haven’t suffered since 1951.
Last season, Goodison Park witnessed an electrifying atmosphere filled with noise and blue smoke as Frank Lampard’s team staged a remarkable comeback from a 2-0 deficit against Crystal Palace, winning 3-2 and securing their Premier League status in the penultimate game.
This time, the battle for survival will extend to the final day, with Everton, Leeds, and a mentally weakened, if not mathematically eliminated, Leicester all in contention.
“The fans know it’s important – they’ve been absolutely terrific,” said Dyche. “I’ve reminded the players that there are a lot of good players here. They’re seeing through the challenges which I’ve spoken to them at length about.
“They’re seeing through the noise – they must forget about that.
“It’s a case of ‘look at what’s around us, look at the players we’ve got’.
“It’s not very easy (to ignore the noise) nowadays because there’s media everywhere.
“Everyone has an opinion on something but it’s part of being a modern footballer, manager or coach.
“You just remind them, it doesn’t affect what goes on out there. You can’t control all the opinion out there; we can change it and mould it by winning and playing well, but when we get out on the pitch that’s the freedom for us.”