Sean Dyche is proving he might be the perfect Premier League manager | Football
At some point earlier this season, when he saw the number of long throws and dangerous inswinging corners per game ticking up across the league, Sean Dyche must have started licking his lips.
The former Burnley and Everton manager has long been criticised by certain opposition managers and fans for a defensive and structured style of play that isn’t easy on the eye.
However, he has always stuck to his guns, insisting that whether it’s long balls or short balls, he’s only interested in effective balls.
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So for Dyche to be out of a job back in August, when it quickly became clear that this would be a season full of set pieces, direct passing and physical midfield battles, was a serious case of bad timing.
Thank the football gods in that case for Ange Postecoglou. The Aussie gave Nottingham Forest players a collective bout of whiplash during his short time in charge, completely changing the style of play away from what brought them such success last season – prompting Forest to turn back to the tried and tested.
Dyche has dismissed the idea that he was ahead of the curve during his time at Burnley. ‘I’ve always just viewed football through what I think is correct,’ he said during an early press conference as Forest boss.
‘I’ve had enough experiences to decide what I think is a good way of operating. Might not be the best way in everyone’s eyes – that’s up to them to decide, but I know how to operate in the Premier League and I know what it takes to operate in the Premier League.
‘I know the stats, the facts, the demands, the passing lanes, the passing lines, the amount of passes that can be effective. They’re the things you need to know and they’re the things I’m trying to imprint on the players.’
He’s delivering so far. Forest hadn’t won a game of football in close to two months by the time Dyche rocked up at the City Ground in late October.
Since then, they’ve won seven out of 12 matches, beat Tottenham and Liverpool comfortably, put themselves in a good position to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League and are now looking up at the gap to the top half instead of over their shoulder towards the relegation zone. Not bad going for a manager who was bundled out of the Goodison Park door back in January.
The new manager bounce is bound to wear off at some stage, but there’s hope for Forest fans that – in the short term, at least – Dyche might be the perfect man for the job in a perfect season for him.
Forest’s set piece record needs to improve
The irony is that since Dyche took over Forest haven’t overly relied on set pieces as a source of goals. Of the 21 they’ve scored in all competitions under the new manager, three have come from penalties and three from dead ball situations.
Since the start of the season only Liverpool, Brentford, Burnley and Wolves have scored less from set pieces, while just Bournemouth and West Ham have conceded more than their 11 – perhaps a result of Postecoglou’s disdain for practicing corners on the training pitch.
Improving that record will go a long way towards Dyche being a success at the City Ground.
Goals scored from set pieces in the Premier League
10 – Arsenal, Manchester United
9 – Chelsea
8 – Aston Villa, Leeds
7 – Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Tottenham
6 – Brighton, Bournemouth, Fulham, Sunderland, West Ham
5 – Everton, Manchester City
4 – Nottingham Forest
3 – Brentford, Burnley, Liverpool
2 – Wolves
However he gets there, Dyche will need to be an unmitigated success sooner rather than later, considering the Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ approach to his team seems to be ‘if it ain’t broke, fix it’.
The Greek businessman wants Champions League football seemingly at all costs. Can Dyche deliver it? His first focus has been to steady the ship but with players of the quality of Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson in his side – arguably much better than anyone he could call on at Burnley or even Everton – there’s no reason he can’t achieve that by the end of this season with a Europa League win.
Other sides around the league will be watching on with interest. If Dyche is a success, what’s to stop Sam Allardyce doing the same at Fulham, or Tony Pulis being brought back in from the cold to save Burnley’s season? Fanciful thinking, perhaps, but stranger things have happened.
And, if it does all end in tears, the inevitable face off between Dyche and his boss on the pitch will be essential viewing.
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Sean Dyche is proving he might be the perfect Premier League manager | Football
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