Sean Dyche has one of the toughest tasks in football right now – to keep Everton in the Premier League.
The Toffees are in free fall and without a win since October, losing eight games and drawing two in that spell.
Frank Lampard was axed, but the manager was not the only problem at the Merseyside club.
Chronic poor spending has left Dyche with the task of trying to unpick the mess at Goodison Park.
His welcome present from the ownership group… selling one of their most exciting young players in Anthony Gordon and not reinvesting the £40million Newcastle paid.
If there’s one man to do it, then that’s Dyche. He’s been in this situation before and will take no nonsense from his team.
If seeing him walk out into training at Finch Farm with shorts on and a pair of Copa Mundials doesn’t inspire… then who knows what will.
The former Burnley boss will be thrown in at the deep end with a Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday at 12:30pm – a match you can hear live on talkSPORT.
The odds will be stacked against him with the Gunners flying high at the top of the Premier League.
To make matters worse for Dyche, he has a dreadful record against Arsenal himself – only losing more times to Man City.
He has been beaten 10 times by the Gunners and lost every single game of his first nine meetings, but that record did improve.
In recent seasons, he has lost just one of their last five meetings.
Plenty of things to think about for Dyche in his first game in charge of the club, with very little time to work with his players.
Something that might work in his favour is he has worked with three players at Everton already.
James Tarkowski, Michael Keane and Dwight McNeil were all at Burnley with Dyche and he may need to lean on all three.
Goals have been the main problem so far this season for the Toffees, something the new boss will quickly need to address, with only Wolves scoring fewer than them.
Lampard favoured a 4-3-3, but Dyche is likely to revert to his favoured, unfussy, 4-4-2.
Here is how Everton could line-up to face Arsenal at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Andhere are a few things that will be on Dyche’s to-do list in order to turn things around.
Unlock Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has scored just one goal all season, that is a huge problem for Everton.
He should be their talisman, but is struggling to actually get on the scoresheet.
It feels like a long time ago that he was getting 16 Premier League goals in the 2020/21 season.
The Toffees need to be creating more chances for their striker, and McNeil could be key to that.
Stop losing games
It sounds so simple… win games and you’ll stay up. Job done, Sean, you can put your feet up.
However, things run a bit deeper than that at Everton at the moment with losing becoming an unwanted habit.
Dyche’s Burnley sides were notoriously tough and horrible to play against. That’s what he needs to instil in his new team.
They’ve won just three games all season, the fewest in the Premier League. Since Christmas, they have twice taken the lead in games and gone on to lose – that is a habit that needs to be stopped.
That is sure to be what Dyche is telling his team.
Make Goodison Park a fortress
The thing that helped save them from relegation last season was the atmosphere at Goodison Park.
Dyche needs to get the fans believing in the team again and help create that lion’s den that will make it an impossible place to go to.
At the moment, only Southampton have a worse home record in the Premier League.
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