Sean Dyche has said he wants to build on Everton’s stirring response to their 10-point deduction and create the “nirvana” of a constant winning culture at Goodison Park.
Everton host Fulham in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday having collected 12 points from five matches since the club’s punishment for a breach of Premier League profit and sustainability rules.
Dyche’s team have won their last four games without conceding a goal, the latest coming at Burnley on Saturday when Vitaliy Mykolenko’s late withdrawal with a groin injury prompted a change of team shape as well as selection. The Everton manager believes his team’s impressive response at Turf Moor was further evidence of an improved mentality at the club this season, one that needs to continue against Marco Silva’s side at Goodison.
“I wasn’t a brilliant player but I had the mentality that every game is important so therefore try and win it, and I’ve tried to put that across to the players,” said Dyche. “That’s the mentality we want to build. If you can build it and you work hard through the training regimes it becomes a constant.
“Your nirvana as a manager, and Sir Alex Ferguson had it for years at Man United, is it becomes a constant. There’s not a big drama over everything, it’s just a case of: ‘This is what we do – we win.’ Now, we are nowhere near that but what I’m suggesting is you can build a mentality of that quality and enhance it, and that is what I am looking to do. Whatever the game is, we put a side out and we all pull in the same direction to win it.”
Tuesday’s tie is the first cup quarter-final of Dyche’s managerial career. He was criticised while Burnley manager for making wholesale changes in cup competitions but has largely dispensed with that policy at Everton, who have not won silverware since 1995. Injuries permitting, another recognisable Everton team will face Fulham as Dyche attempts to reach the semi-finals.
The Everton manager added: “Trust me, we are trying to win it and the club has been trying to win one for years but it ain’t that easy. Everyone is trying to win a cup but everyone wants the kudos and the money of the Premier League, and sometimes you have to weigh up what are the realities.
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“This season I’ve been trying to change the mentality and continue it. I’ve tried to go into this competition going: ‘Right lads, you’re playing.’ Some might think they are getting rested but that’s not for me, I don’t really enjoy that. This game might be different because of the injuries but we’ll have to wait and see on that. I will certainly be going out with the mentality to win and putting a team out that I believe can win. It’s a home game of course as well, and we want Goodison Park to be rocking and to keep the momentum.”
