I don’t disagree really but I think we do this with every manager we have really we convince ourselves that they’re the thing holding us back and the players will blossom once they’re gone but it never happens and generally the next manager does very similar things and makes similar choices that suggest maybe it’s not that simple in fact the only proper argument against that I can think of is doucoures record under dyche but then people still say he shouldn’t be playing so maybe even that doesn’t count. That’s not defending dyche either he’s not doing a good job I just don’t believe he’s the core problem because these things have been happening for years and there is almost nobody in the squad who is actually good in real terms so you can change things a bit but it’s just swapping one kind of crap for another kind of crap imo.
Well Dyche came in as a "practical" approach kind of guy, but turned out he's playing favourites who are all atrocious in all the important games and is in fact a 1-trick pony.
He has gotten the best out of Doucoure but to the detriment of attack buildup as Doucs is just horrendous with his feet. Ancelotti used him as a ball winner/water carrier that just recycled possession and pressed relentlessly for a reason, and now, for the same reason, we're shoehorning him as a second striker. lol
Sure, he has scored, amazing, he gets himself in good positions all the time... but he also misses simple passes/headers/everything, can't offer a good out or through ball and hasn't spotted a pass or played a decent through ball in 3 years. We can't rely on him having his scoring boots on every game, as he just doesn't, and when he's not offering a 1-shot-1-goal a game he's absolutely doing nothing, like today.
Danjuma is/could be similar, true, but he can pass AND shoot, and if we don't want to hoof (we're already first in hoofs and crosses in the Prem btw) - we have to have someone who can do those things.
I get it, they all have favourites, it's how managers work, sure, but it was the same with Keane - he had to make inexcusable mistakes for Branthwaite to start, and Dyche just couldn't defend him more.
Same setup to play as Brentford or Villa and we're walking away with a win here.