Sean Dyche may already know Friedkin Group decision - but Everton must deliver

Sean Dyche may already know Friedkin Group decision over future - but Everton must deliver now

Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Goodison Park ahead of Everton's trip to Manchester United

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We’ve got a motto that hasn’t been used for a very long time top to bottom at Everton Football Club.

With this run that we’ve got coming up, the concern has to be where the goals are going to come from. Sean Dyche needs to start being braver because these performances have been abysmal.

The situation we had last season, that’s gone. This season is all about trying to improve on last year and the manager feels like he’s got a better squad but we’re not getting the best out of the players.

I wonder if the players think that this is the end of Dyche? I wonder if Dyche knows that the new owners the Friedkin Group are going to replace him early on when they come in?

My argument to the players would be, if your contract is running out, you’re on big, big money at Everton Football Club. After Everton, you’re going to be going down, so how far do you want to go down?

Wages-wise, club-wise. You’re not going to get a pay rise.

If you’re level of performances and standards are this then your wages will drop significantly. If you want a last pay day somewhere else, you’ve got to start performing and pushing to be player of the year at Everton Football Club to get a half-decent contract.

I’ve been there as a player. You’re at the top of your game, it’s fine, it’s good, but there’s a huge drop off point.

If you’re not performing, then nobody is going to take you. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Part of my job is dealing with this, and a lot of top players are going to get released next summer, and your job as a player is to make sure you’re top of the list, you’re the one that all the clubs want. If you keep performing like you’re playing right now, then you’re not going to have any takers.

It’s a similar scenario for Dyche. He quite rightly has a lot of credit for what he did last season, and we’re all thankful for that and how he dealt with matters, but this season I feel like he’s putting another nail in his coffin, week after week.

A lot of the time he’s making strange decisions and strange comments that don’t align with the supporters. You can tell by the Goodison Park atmosphere that he’s losing the fans.

It’s dire football. It’s very, very difficult to watch and I think the fanbase are sick and tired of it now.

In the past, Everton have at least had a go, and tried to force the issue, no matter who they’ve played against at Goodison Park and we’ve had some big results, but away from home, that seems to lack and we’ve got a bad record at Old Trafford. It’s a first Premier League home game in front of the fans for Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim, and he’ll want to put on a show, but they’re in a transitional period and he won’t know his best 11 yet.

We need to target United’s weaknesses and pinpoint what they don’t like. They’ve got fast, dynamic players who can hurt you and we’ve probably only got one, so we need to try and work to our strengths.

Unless there’s a big change, with the game being on Sky Sports, the world is going to see how dour our approach is. We’re going out not to lose matches but when we do concede, our heads go.

Everton’s players don’t want to be embarrassed in front of a global audience. They need to shape up ahead of a tough week, and possibly even a tough couple of months.

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