Sean Dyche doubles down with detailed defence of Everton defender Michael Keane

The Blues boss offered more detail on his approach to choosing Everton's centre back partnership amid calls by some for changes at the back

05:00, 06 May 2023

Sean Dyche and Michael Keane

Sean Dyche has backed Michael Keane and praised him for his work since the pair were reunited in January.

The 51-year-old brought his former Burnley player back into the first team within weeks of his appointment, promoting Keane from Everton’s most under-used centre back to a regular starter. The player has had mixed fortunes since - scoring a sensational equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur but also forming part of a defence that has proved vulnerable at times.

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Dyche dismissed calls from some quarters to try a different option at the back and declared his belief Keane had “done very well” during his reign. He suggested criticism may be misplaced as he stressed the need to look at the wider context of goals recently conceded.

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Dyche’s promotion of Keane represented one of his biggest shake-ups of the starting line-up following his appointment in the final days of January. It was a major change by the Blues boss, who broke up the James Tarkowski and Conor Coady partnership established during Frank Lampard’s reign to give Keane an opportunity alongside Tarkowski. Keane and Tarkowski played alongside each other under Dyche at Burnley.

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Since then Keane has played 10 games, providing his crucial last minute goal against Spurs, an assist at Nottingham Forest and performing in a defence that kept clean sheets against Brentford and Crystal Palace. But 20 goals have also been conceded in that period and Everton have slipped into the relegation zone with four games to go. Injury to right back Seamus Coleman and experimentation at left back, as well as enforced changes in midfield due to a suspension handed to Abdoulaye Doucoure as well as injury and illness to Amadou Onana have all contributed to Everton’s recent defensive instability but Keane’s starting berth has also been questioned by some. He conceded the penalty that would have allowed Leicester City to open up a two goal lead in Monday’s game, which finished a draw, and was one of several players who proved unable to stop Alexander Isak as the Newcastle United forward eased through Everton to create his side’s fourth goal on a difficult night when the Blues were last out at Goodison Park.

Dyche backed Keane as having been Everton’s best player for the first 70 minutes of the match with Newcastle - the point after which his side collapsed - and said dealing with the growth of players’ reputations while they were out of the team was new to him in his management career.

Of Keane, he said: “I think he’s done really well over the time I’ve been here. The question mark has been there before about certain players, Seamus told me he went through it as well. It is an interesting dynamic for me because I’m new to it. When the team is not going as well everyone out of the team is better than the ones in it. Then you put them in and the other person is better. It’s just part of football management but you need a team combination that can work. That’s what we are looking to do every week. We’ve had to change it at times, for example with Douc. Injuries can change it and of course form can change it. It’s finding the right mixture and keeping the consistency of it. Everyone here is a very good player on any given day. It is about finding that way of playing where everyone can link, get the demand and the performance level. It’s about the group dynamic. It’s not about one player.”

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Everton have conceded 11 goals across the last five games - a run that included the clean sheet at Palace amid maulings against Fulham and Newcastle. The 2-0 defeat to Manchester United that also falls within that period could have been much worse, with the Old Trafford side forcing Jordan Pickford into nine saves as well as scoring twice, hitting the post and missing an open goal. Dyche said he was aware of that record but suggested the numbers do not show the complete picture. He said the final moments before a goal is conceded are often preceded by issues elsewhere on the pitch.

Dyche said: “Generally, I’ll be looking at the whole thing and would say: ‘No, that was the centre forward’s fault’ or ‘It should have gone there’. It’s a team game. If it’s a real obvious, individual mistake that’s different. But usually you find goals come from something else that has happened in front of what has happened at the end.”

Dyche has been questioned on those waiting in line for an opportunity to play, with Yerry Mina and Coady the two most likely candidates should a change be made at centre back. He has praised the professionalism of both and recently pointed to Mina’s lack of game time this season and his history with injuries. He said: "It’s not just about individuals. I think Yerry Mina is a very good player, he hasn’t played a lot, which is part of my thinking, you’ve got to be fit and you’ve got to be active. He’s a very good player but we’ve got other very good players here. It’s about trying to find the right combination, that’s all it is."

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Ahead of the game with Brighton on Monday, he said of selecting Keane ahead of Coady: “Just the fact that he [Keane] is a different style to Coady. He’s played in a four a lot more than Conor Coady, who is a very good player and an immaculate professional and has played a lot of his career in a three. Things like that come into your thinking. And trying to find that format.”

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