Sean Dyche mentions Everton’s “really good” combo and expresses concern over Jack Harrison’s injury.
In the 3-0 victory over Bournemouth, Jack Harrison scored his first goal for Everton.
Jack Harrison overcame an injury, according to Sean Dyche, and contributed to Everton’s first-ever victory at home this season.
At the fifth attempt, the Toffees triumphed 3-0 over AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park, giving them their first victory there since 2011.
Following his loan transfer from Leeds United, Harrison was given his full Premier League debut for Everton after missing the first few weeks due to a hip injury. And seven minutes before halftime, Harrison was on target for his first goal for the Blues after James Garner had given the game’s opening goal in the eighth minute.
Bournemouth keeper Neto punched a cross clear, with the ball dropping for Harrison around 22 yards out. The winger needed no invitation to shoot and his controlled half-volley lobbed Neto and found the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar. Abdoulaye Doucoure then wrapped up the three points on the hour mark as he crashed home after Harrison had a header blocked.
Harrison had been carrying a minor hamstring issue ahead of the encounter. Meanwhile, Amadou Onana had been named on the bench before he was called into the starting line-up late on in the place of the injured Idrissa Gana Gueye. And Dyche was impressed by the pair, as well as Garner’s display.
The Everton manager praised Onana and Jimmy, saying, “They were both extremely well. Jimmy has been performing well nonetheless. They are both in their early careers as footballers, learning as they go along and pushing themselves to do so. Jack Harrison impressed me much. He was worried about whether it was okay to play or not, so he was kind of dragging about a hamstring ache. No, I want to play, he said. He was excellent, as were the other two center backs. Dom will develop stronger and more focused, as he demonstrated in spots today. Doucs was also energetic.
Everton has been playing well this season, but Dyche believes they haven’t received the rewards they deserve, notably in their home defeats to Fulham, Wolves, and Luton. The Goodison manager once more cited the anticipated goal metric to demonstrate how his team has failed to win matches in which they should have.
“I’m really happy for the group because the noise changes when we win,” continued Dyche. I thought they were excellent against Luton. I have to cut through some of the noise, I have to talk about it constantly because it’s essential, I have to remind the players of their performances, but I also have to tell them that if they lose, it doesn’t matter what they did.
“You can keep playing well throughout the entire season, but if you don’t succeed, people start to doubt your efforts. With the victory, it was again another strong performance that was very powerful. It is OK to discuss xG when you have 25 attempts today and 23 in the previous game with an xG of three [goals] or more. The xG is at its greatest point here in eight years, I believe, but you need to take advantage of it. You can’t wait around for things to happen all the time, so today we made it happen instead of waiting. That’s a way of thinking that must persist and wish to develop further.
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