Sean Dyche was unable to build upon his excellent start to life in the dugout at Everton as he watched his side lose 2-0 to their bitter rivals Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday night.
The former Burnley boss enjoyed a dream debut with the Toffees in the previous outing as they beat league leaders Arsenal 1-0 at Goodison Park. However, the Blues came crashing back down to earth with a sobering defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s team, which has left them sitting one point adrift of safety after 22 matches.
Dyche’s men stayed in the game for most of the first half and came within inches of taking the lead when James Tarkowski rose highest to head a cross against the post, only for a blistering counterattack from Liverpool to end in Mohamed Salah making it 1-0 in the 36th minute.
Cody Gakpo then secured all three points for the home side shortly after half-time as the Dutchman tapped the ball into an empty net at the back post after an excellent pass across the penalty box.
Ellis Simms was trusted to lead the line in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin but struggled with the defensive quality on display from the hosts, completing just 54% of his attempted passes and losing 100% of his ground duels, while also drawing criticism from some Everton fans for his performance.
However, the ex-Sunderland man did win five of his nine aerial battles, which shows that the 22-year-old offered a useful outlet in the air and was let down by the lack of support from midfield to pick up the pieces around him.
How did Conor Coady perform against Liverpool?
Whilst it was a difficult night for Simms, the real derby villain on the night for the Toffees was defender Conor Coady, as the experienced enforcer endured a performance to forget.
As per Sofascore, the former Wolves captain did not win a single individual duel in the entire match as he lost all four of the battles that he contested on the pitch. The 29-year-old made two clearances and completed a combined two tackles and interceptions but was also dribbled past three times.
These statistics show that the Liverpool forwards found it far too easy to get the better of the 59-touch defender throughout the game, both in terms of dribbling past him to create opportunities and outmuscling him in physical duels.
Coady was also partially at fault for Gakpo’s goal as he allowed a cross to go past him in the six-yard box, which enabled the Reds forward to tap into an empty net.
After the match, the England international revealed that he was hoping either no-one would be there or Seamus Coleman would be in a position to clear it, but the real mistake was in dropping too deep and playing the Dutch attacker onside at the back post.
Therefore, the 29-year-old was the big villain for Dyche on Monday night, as the experienced defender let his manager down with his lack of physicality and sub-par defending, whilst Simms at least put up a fight in his aerial duels and caused some issues for the Reds.
