Poor game management costs Everton two huge points

Palace at home was a must-win, Dyche sends out a defensive line-up. That game, despite negative play, we should still have won.

Today's game, again with the chances created, should have led to 3 points, but again Dyche – scared to lose or devoid of a positive mind – makes the wrong choices.

Considering he made the statement that Everton don't know how to win a game is the pot calling the kettle black. With Luton having a game in hand, we really are in Knopfler territory now.

We won't get any points back because, if we do, the second charge will deliver the same scenario, 10 points deducted. Any points we do get back, they will have to take the same action in the second charge. Points taken away then given back, what's the point in that? It's a clear sign the Premier League is run by idiots.

Anyone would have taken a point today, but we should have won, if we had a positive manager instead of a dinosaur.

If we get points back, we will then get them deducted anyway by the second charge?

Even though they relate to the same seasons?

How can they give us points back and then take them away again for the same seasons?

Please explain your reasoning.

There may be all kinds of reasons for that – lack of confidence and the fact that we're just not a very good team among them – but we did not give a good account of ourselves at the end there, in my opinion.

The Premier League is all about small margins and when you have a slight advantage, you've got to lock it down and secure it. Massively frustrating but, as another comment on the other thread said, it's better that Dunk's goal wasn't a stoppage-time winner.

I think Jeff may have meant it's a poor headline for the manager in the sense that while accurate it doesn't reflect well on Dyche as a "top manager"?

Why attack Paul? He is expressing an opinion, maybe a fear. He is entitled to it.

Many of us believe, or are beginning to believe, that the Premier League will find a means to reaffirm our points deduction, whether it be in the current process, the second charge, or potential liquidation. Paul doesn't have to justify his opinions but he is entitled to share them.

A good result was obtained over 99 minutes.

Okay, the game lasts until the final whistle but your headline suggests you know better and would have done things differently to Dyche in those last 15 minutes. Please share with us your game management analysis for those last 15 minutes.

"He got it right for 85 minutes." So was it part of his game management plan to have zero shots in the first half? And for the team to play generally poorly save a period in the second half?

I think Dyche is overall doing well with what he has but that doesn't mean he is immune to criticism. Earlier in the season, with this same group, we were creating 16 or 17 chances per game but just lacked composure to finish them.

Now, we aren't even creating chances. I realize part of that may be an emphasis on defence but you're sailing pretty close to the wind if the plan is to have a series of 0-0 draws to round out the season.

Had it been 11 vs 11, I'd have seen the logic in trying to see out the game as we have done on a number of times under Dyche but when you have the man advantage against a team like Brighton who leave lots of space behind, I think it would have been better to either keep Doucouré on or, if fitness was a concern, put someone other than Young on.

But then that's Dyche's MO. He's very defensive and very conservative. I can't stand it but he's the manager and I can't do anything about it.

Branthwaite apparently admitted that we sat back after the sending off and he didn't know why. That was poor management of the game and a winning position by the players. Unlike against Newcastle at 2-0 up, they couldn't keep the ball against a side that thrives on possession to create chances.

It's massively frustrating and when you can't score enough goals or win at home, throwing away points from winning positions is potentially very costly.

I did predict a 3-0 drubbing, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Paul said something and Jeff questioned it. Something that happens in a discussion.

Why did you attack Jeff?

Big headline… but that is us Lyndon. You know that.

Boss? Sympathy. Great career move he made!

Players? Linked. Many pissed off too.

Must be financially tough for them all!

Used to always watch.

Is it just me that listens for updates now?

Suspect if we were top, may be same.

Sad.

Whole game like watching X versus Facebook now.

Oh Ged...care.

Give me a reason these days.

63 years as fan and former season ticket holder in Upper Bullens.

Anyone?

It is still a horrible loss of two points though. The strikers are not without blame. 1 goal from open play in the last 9 games is not a fair reflection of chances created.

Calvert-Lewin and Beto were both profligate. Oh for a finisher like Gyökeres, who is tearing it up at Sporting Lisbon.

Instead, we too frequently hit long balls straight to their keeper or conceded possession in midfield. I blame the players. Judging by the disappointment etched on their faces, they knew they had let themselves down in those final minutes.

I think the substitution of Doucouré was debatable although Young is a player who can offer composure on the ball. Bearing in mind his recent injury, it possibly made sense to spare Doucouré the additional time.

Lewis Dunk was the obvious threat at set-piece crosses. I was slightly disappointed neither of our tall centre-backs picked him up for the equaliser. But that is nit-picking as our back line once again gave a solid performance.

Why? Because before the game we would of taken a point. After going ahead and chasing an outside European spot with 30 points we go for a second goal but because we are looking over our shoulder we have to make sure we don't lose the game.

We created enough chances to win the game and once again poor finishing cost us dearly. Then again Pickford's save near the end tells us why we should be grateful for having England's Number 1.

We still created a few chances today, our overall season conversion rate is probably in the Bottom 3 in the Premier League.

We have 21 or 31 points depending on the appeal. The mindset is totally different in either scenario.

The manager is doing a great job at keeping the players focused and working hard which is an achievement in itself.

Roll on the Hammers next week.

It's maddening conceding so late but, when the dust has settled, it's another important point away against a decent side.

Dyche will be criticised again by some, but in reality he is fulfilling what he has been asked to do, ie, without the deduction we would be 12th, 11 points clear of relegation, and only two wins, from the 12 remaining games, away from safety. That compares pretty well to recent seasons.

The real issue here is how the Premier League have made a situation that any manager would struggle to deal with; how do you realistically manage a team that should be comfortably mid-table, and have to scrap relegation? Yet people still complain.

Dyche is doing a brilliant job given the hand he's been dealt. Without him, we would be long gone. Wake up and smell the coffee.

It would be interesting to know Roberto de Zerbi's view on the Doucoure sub. He is a massive unit, just returning after a very long lay-off. I bet it was a reluctant sub to protect the player.

Maybe the Brighton boss was glad we bought an extra defender on, limiting our ability to counter. Or disappointed we had an extra experienced defender to plug gaps and defend. Would be interesting to know his thoughts. All academic now, of course.

A good result, snatched from the jaws of a great one. Feels like a defeat though, due to the 10 men and the lateness of their leveller. Sickening.

Replacing Doucoure with Young was a huge error. If Doucoure had to be removed to protect him from harm, then Dyche should have replaced energy with energy, not someone just to sit in.

I wasn't ‘slightly disappointed' that Dunk wasn't picked up by one of the centre-halves. I was and still am livid. At the stage of the game, Dunk was the only aerial threat, none of their other players could win an aerial dual. Gutted.

Jarrod is right, why stop pressing in the latter stages? Lyndon is right, poor game management.

I've got a feeling that could be the last game shown on Match of the Day.

Football is all about momentum, was what one of the callers said, and then he compared the way Palace, killed the game on Monday night, with horrible gamesmanship, to how Everton, never had the brains or inclination to do the same thing to Brighton today.

I'm sure you are correct. The only midfielder player left on the books who offers any creativity is probably Gomes but he's hardly ever fit.

If Moysie comes with a plan similar to Palace, we could see a repeat of that game.

Even after the substitution, we still created chances. Beto and Harrison both missed chances that should have wrapped it up.

We all fall into accepting the theory that the managers call the shots, the players just implement their instructions – that's why the managers get the big bucks. But at the highest level, certain players get paid more than the manager. That's because, on the pitch, those players take control of the situation. Nobody in our midfield did that in the last 10 minutes today.

I thought that, overall, we played well. It was a fair result. Frustrating as it was to lose 2 points, we came away from a very tough game with a point, a result nearly all of us would have accepted before kick-off.

If I have a particular criticism, it's one that hasn't been mentioned much – Brighton won 3 headers from corners, straight at Pickford, in the first half, then scored from another from a cross for their goal.

Players are tired, concentration levels are stretched etc.

Yes, it's disappointing to lose a goal so late, why not think about the chances we miss time and time again? It could have been put to bed 2-0.

Okay, poor game management but our defenders have been magnificent at times and if we can stay up it's their effort making the difference.

We have no-one stepping up and putting chances away, except Jarrad at the moment.

I don't want the manager having to ‘game manage' the last 10 minutes of a game, top players should be able to do it themselves.

Game management includes a degree of luck, make a change and we score and the manager's a genius, let one in and he's an idiot.

Problem is we have no effective outlet up front to help run down the clock, or ‘clever' players breaking up play to disrupt the flow.

Of course Brighton were going to press for an equaliser even with 10 men.

All our best players are defenders. If we had just one 10 - 15 goal a season striker on form we would be fine.

We can still batter West Ham next week, I actually think we will (if 1-0 can be described as a battering). UTFT!

It's the 10-point deduction doing the damage, and lack of quality in certain key areas of the pitch. Not necessarily poor game management.

People rightly compare what Palace did to us and we didn't do here. Game management, on-field leadership, team manager should have got the message out.

I thought the ref had an okay game, the linesman didn't, but it felt like we had done all the hard stuff but lacked someone to put a foot on the ball in a corner and waste time.

Poor finish to hard work cost us critical points.

I'd have kept Doucouré on and gone for the second.

Dunk is their big threat from set pieces and should never have a got a free header – everyone switched off.

I Was expecting nothing and, even though we are all pissed off losing 2 points, 1 is better than 0!

I agree with Lyndon to an extent regards bringing on Young when perhaps Dobbin or Chermiti may have given them something to think about; had he done that, we might all have said "What the fuck is he doing?"

No matter; our lack of goals is killing us big time – it needs to change – 'how' is another matter!

Kenwright's legacy.

We have had 10 points taken. If the appeal gives us say 5 back, we then face another charge and another 10 points taken.

Then they have to give us 5 back as with the first charge, we then end up with a 10-point deduction, is that not absolutely ridiculous?

Dyche did fine today, so did the players he picked, sometimes you need to remember there is an opponent trying their best too,

and sometimes they succeed in their efforts.

Paul 40, I think you're over thinking it, if they give us points back, whether it's 5 or 8… whatever, it completely undermines the second charge. That's what I'm trying to say, it's one thing at a time, let's wait for the first verdict before we start speculating about the next charge.

He clearly sets up the team all week, every week, to be ultra defensive. The evidence of this is for all to see on any given Saturday (or the day the games are played).

That's what we were today. However, when we are presented a chance to play 11 v 10, like every other team in that position, we need to make the pitch as long and wide as possible; to really stretch the numerically disadvantaged opposition. That relieves pressure building in our defence.

But because we are so conditioned to be ultra defensive, it's not in the players' psyche to be so tactically aware of stretching the opposition. They continue in the same defensive mode. Add taking off legs and replacing them with a defensive-minded 38-year-old past-it player, and we just sunk deeper, completely negating the man advantage.

It is this that is Dyche's mindset problem; if not resolved, it will put us in even greater peril.

We are not good enough to take the game to other teams, the squad is a mish-mash of different managers' players, some of the fringe players are on 3 or 4 times more money than starters, it's a shit show.

If we try and attack teams, we'll go down because we'll lose too many games. The squad still has a loser's mindset and we are doing well to be where we are.

Most on here have probably never played entire seasons in actual football teams, even recreationally. I've played on losing teams and it does affect the mindset. By the 2nd or 3rd season, we went into games expecting to lose.

The way Dyche has us playing and being resilient is more than just eye level. There are psychological entities at play that we can't see or feel. We need to muddle through this season, give him a summer transfer window with funds (even if it means selling Onana and Branthwaite) then judge him a season or two from now.

The man is working miracles as far as I'm concerned and I would kiss the fella's fuckin feet for what he's done for my beloved Everton. Anyone who wants us to rock up at Brighton, play them around like we are Man City and get 3 points is naive. Just sayin' like.

Is it worth putting Calvert-Lewin in the next level down (U21s?) so he can get confidence in scoring goals again?

Beside avoiding relegation, our next job is trying to keep hold of Branthwaite, and build a young team around him and Pickford instead of selling our best players.

How much did we really spend on Beto and Youssef Chermiti? Lewis Dobbin has impressed me more when he has been playing than either of them two.

Either way, it's going to be a nail-biter of a season both on and off the pitch; it just seems to be the Everton way at the moment.

Another problem we have is that Pickford very rarely if ever controls the area by coming for crosses so he causes problems with his jittery movements.

Right now we can't be choosy with who owns us, manages us or plays for us because we allowed a certain great Evertonian fucked us over.

"...we are not good enough to take the game to other teams, the squad is a mish mash of different managers players, some of the fringe players are on 3 or 4 times more money than starters, it's a shit show. If we try and attack teams we'll go down because we'll lose too many games. The squad still has a losers mindset and we are doing well to be where we are."

All suspended for four consecutive winning games including some strong opposition, right after the kind of bombshell news that would likely collapse a bunch of losers.

Same staff, same players (yes there have been some injuries), same everything. Something has changed/been changed behind the scenes. It's as if a switch was thrown after that penalty, resulting in a reversion that has remained for most of all games since.

I don't buy the "not good enough" thing. After all, we would be around mid table without the deduction, due largely to that four-game run. Why do we look nothing like that winning team now?

We had chances to win yesterday's game and didn't take them. It's happened regularly this season. That's got nothing to do with tactics. More to do with seven years of avoiding buying players who can score goals. Now we're paying for it, because we can't afford to buy anyone who can.

Sheffield Utd and Burnley are done, so Forest are the target given they also face a points deduction for the latest charges.

The players can play well, I'm not sure they can do it consistently. I'm certain it would look different with a couple of players who know where the goal is. Big if, though!

can't argue about the attack. Has there been another team of our size and stature go for so long with so little firepower? (excluding a time under Ancelotti). Masochism.

Essentially no effective striker found in years, through the sweet shop period too – even an 8-10 per season one: only Doucouré has come close to filling in.

Ironic when you look at the performance of our defence, for which Dyche must take credit – top 4/5 level this season.

However, I feel for 2 months we've largely shown little up front in terms of intent, yet we have earlier. It all looks point-a-game-is-the-aim to me... and we are capable of (slightly) more against some opposition, if not consistently.

This can be one difficult club to follow!

As for Forest facing a deduction of their own, well I hope it doesn't happen as it will mean the whole system of deducting points has probably been thrown out of the window and scrapped completely after super silk exposes the whole flawed system.

On another day, one or more would have gone in the net.

For the equaliser, I thought it was a great cross and a cracking header.

Regards the late substitution, given that they were throwing the kitchen sink at us, with Dunk going up front, perhaps we should have put another centre half on instead.

And did our players start sitting back, was it more a case of them running out of legs in another 100-minute game?

Phillip, 41, an interesting thought about giving DCL a game in the under-21s, but I think the success of that would depend on their formation and whether they create significantly more chances than the first team. I don't know the answers to those questions.

All in all, a good point yesterday. But now for another barmy week. Hoping West Ham win tomorrow then potentially yelling abuse at them on Saturday. Pleased to see Luton and Forest with Cup games in midweek and hoping they go to extra-time. Then hoping Liverpool win on Saturday. Oh, it's great being an Evertonian. Really relaxing.

I see so much similarity in supporters wanting to back the manager and desperately wanting things to work out, but I think its more head in the sand approach. We havent won a game this year our last victory was against Burnley in December, and still some believe this has nothing to do with Dyche or his tactics.

I didn't mean my post to be a backing for Lampard it certainly wasn't, I was calling for Lampard's head weeks before the World Cup.

Dyche has spent most of his time as a Premier League manager in and around the relegation zone, and with his insistence on playing Harrison and Young at every opportunity, it's not hard to see why.

We are set up defensively both home and away, hence why we find scoring goals is so hard.

I know many say about our lack of quality but I don't think Gary O'Neill at either Bournemouth or Wolves has much more quality yet he got Bournemouth well clear of relegation and this season has Wolves comfortably in the top half.

I accept it's too late to change manager now and who would want the job is not only a problem for now but also going forward. While I readily accept Dyche has improved the fitness and the heads don't go down as often, you need a lot more than that to manage successfully in the Premier League.

I think Dyche has improved the limited squad more than in just fitness and application, don't forget, Brian, without the 10-point penalty, we would be near the top half of the table.

Not great but a big improvement on recent years and not able to spend bringing in new players but also losing players who might have helped his cause even more.

I accept that had we not been deducted 10 points we would indeed be 13th in the league. But I just don't see any ambition in Dyches style, I watch teams not far above us in the league and they have 5 players in the opponents box at times, were at best we have DCL and Doucoure and maybe a wide player. Its not coincidence why we are one of the lowest scoring teams in the Premier league.
I go to Goodison now and hope we can score first and hang on, but usually the opposition score first and only when we get to the last 10 minutes do we throw men forward to chase the equaliser.

When we finish this season still in the premier league there is little or no indication that there will be any money to spend or if there is will we be allowed to spend it.

Maybe Dyche won't be part of the furniture when we come out to this trial and tribulation but I'm very glad he has been manager these last twelve months, I think he has done very well, he has his faults, can't be denied, but overall with all of the faults this club has I wouldn't complain too much.

As always you bring the right perspective to how things are and always bring reason in your posts. Maybe you are right that, at this moment in time, he is the right man to be in charge; I just want to see a bit of ambition.

I agree he hasn't had a lot of money to spend and that seems to be something that won't change for a while. But he did bring in Harrison and Young, who for me haven't improved our team one bit, and even when fit he doesn't seem to fancy Danjuma, another he agreed to bring in on loan.

Then you have Beto and Chermiti who despite Calvert-Lewin struggling, never seem to get many minutes, and the treatment of Dobbin really gets to me.