GoldenToffee
Player Valuation: £60m
I'm not a big fan of his and I do want him replaced whatever happens this summer, but you only need to look at the utter state of the squad to realise why he's got the team playing the way it is.
We have:
Onana, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Garner and Pickford are all fine footballers, but when the rest of them are abysmal they simply cannot do it by themselves, eventually any nice move or passage of play is going to break down due to a lack of quality where it matters.
It seems we can't ask them to pass it out from the back as ultimately Tarkowski or one of the full backs would gift possession away. We can't go through the middle as neither Gueye, Onana or Garner can pick a through ball (and nobody is there to make a run anyway). We can't go to the wings as McNeil and Harrison's first thoughts are to slow the game down and pass backwards.
That leaves us with going long and relying on set pieces, which is what Dyche does.
I really don't think any other manager gets this group of players playing nice effective football, but I hope the summer brings lots of change, with a new board, new manager and plenty of players in and out.
We have:
- 1 centre half that can pass a football - Branthwaite
- 0 full backs capable of attacking
- 0 midfielders that have proven they can regularly control that area of the park - Onana shows it in glimpses only
- 0 midfielders that have a moment of real magic in them
- 0 wingers that can beat a man
- 0 wingers that can put a handful of quality crosses in each game
- No pace in any area of the squad
- 0 strikers that have a killer instinct
- Absolutely appalling options in backup
Onana, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Garner and Pickford are all fine footballers, but when the rest of them are abysmal they simply cannot do it by themselves, eventually any nice move or passage of play is going to break down due to a lack of quality where it matters.
It seems we can't ask them to pass it out from the back as ultimately Tarkowski or one of the full backs would gift possession away. We can't go through the middle as neither Gueye, Onana or Garner can pick a through ball (and nobody is there to make a run anyway). We can't go to the wings as McNeil and Harrison's first thoughts are to slow the game down and pass backwards.
That leaves us with going long and relying on set pieces, which is what Dyche does.
I really don't think any other manager gets this group of players playing nice effective football, but I hope the summer brings lots of change, with a new board, new manager and plenty of players in and out.