Everton gained a new follower this week and were cheered on from the glamour of California by Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, who posted a mock-up picture of himself in a Toffees shirt after boss Sean Dyche said he was a huge fan of the American band’s music.
To reference one of their hits, following Everton recently has felt like walking down a Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Points deductions, relegation scraps, record financial losses, takeover sagas…
Performances have had peaks and troughs. But their nadir was reached last week when they lost 6-0 at Chelsea. Dyche and his staff were questioned, as were the players. It was an embarrassing episode from an album of dark days.
Using another Green Day reference, Nice Guys Finish Last. There were no more niceties after Chelsea from Dyche. Instead, a few home truths were dished out. Dyche asked if his players were ready to fight more, to work harder and to get the basics right. Senior players chipped in, too, but it was more a case of accepting they had not been good enough and pulling together.
Everton made changes. The most noticeable alteration was Dyche’s tracksuit, now iconic among fans on social media. After standing on the touchline suited and booted for more than 500 games, the boss ditched his Sunday best. A small change but perhaps the players could now relate to him more.
In two games with Dyche in the club tracksuit, Everton have won twice — one seismic victory over relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and a first Merseyside derby three points at home since 2010.
The Toffees put in a relentless shift against Liverpool.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has had his critics but played through an illness to bully Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. Jordan Pickford showed why he is England’s No 1, and Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski were outstanding. Idrissa Gueye was imperious in midfield.
So back to those home truths. Fight more? Check. Just look at Vitalii Mykolenko, the Ukrainian left back who played on after a nasty-looking ankle injury. Work harder? Check. The likes of Jack Harrison never stopped running. Get the basics right? Check. They barely made a mistake all game.
‘Before you worry about anything else you have to be prepared to work,’ said Dyche. ‘Just physically work and that wasn’t on show. You have to be prepared to fight. A modern fight, not the old days of smashing into players, but there are still ways you can be infectious with your competitiveness.
‘We had to get the basics right. That had slowly eroded.’
Dyche added that there are still ‘miles to go’ in terms of changing the narrative around the club and knew beating Liverpool would not ‘cure everything’. But he has bought into what this fixture means to fans, and knows the win can buy him time and respect.
There will be more bumps in the road under Dyche but he is slowly achieving his favourite phrases of ‘changing the story’ and ‘blocking out the noise’. To use a final Green Day analogy, Everton hope they will no longer be a Basket Case and have all but said Good Riddance to another relegation dogfight.