Paul Brown says all three of Everton’s available full-backs are struggling and Sean Dyche doesn’t seem to ‘trust’ Vitalii Mykolenko.
The former Daily Star journalist told GIVEMESPORT (8 September) that the Toffees boss is likely to play the Ukranian less than the
other options because he isn’t a “Dyche full-back”, even though free agent signing Ashley Young hasn’t proven to be the “solid experienced pro” that the manager was hoping for.
The 38-year-old arrival from Aston Villa has started every Premier League game along with Scottish international Nathan Patterson, with Seamus Coleman still not recovered from the injury he suffered at the end of last season.
Brown said: “If we break it down, I think Patterson is much better going forward than he is defensively. I think he makes bad decisions at times and his positioning is questionable.
“I think Young has been caught out too often already at full-back. I think he’s beaten off the dribble quite a lot and hasn’t really looked the kind of solid experienced pro that I think Dyche was hoping to bring in there.
“Mykolenko, in a similar way to Patterson, is probably better going forward than he is on the other side of the game. I don’t really feel like his Everton career has ever got off the ground.
“It doesn’t seem like Dyche trusts him really, he just doesn’t seem like a Sean Dyche full-back. So we may see less of him than we would have done under another manager.
“But I do think all three are struggling a bit at the moment and need to improve.”
The full-back positions were supposed to be one of the manager’s priorities in the transfer window, and while Young made a decent amount of sense on a free transfer he probably doesn’t represent addressing the area alone.
Everton selling Lucas Digne to Aston Villa, apparently at the behest of Rafa Benitez, only to then fire the Spaniard soon after has been a sore point for fans ever since, and rightly so when it encapsulates the lack of direction in recent years.
Mykolenko has had some positive outings in a Toffees shirt, and there was a point under Frank Lampard where it seemed that he and Patterson had made the jump.
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But clearly Dyche isn’t sold on him, and the Goodison boss’ assessment of Patterson not being a “bona fide” Premier League player last season [Daily Record, 20 April] suggests he likely isn’t on former Rangers youngster either.
Were captain Coleman fit then the manager would likely be fielding a full-back pairing with a combined age of 72 week in and week out, which isn’t great on paper despite the merits of both.
To provide leadership, cover for injury, and stability for important games, there is absolutely no issue with either veteran, but after a year and a half at the club for the junior pair they should probably have the roles locked down.
Whether that is a fault of theirs for not developing fast enough, or of Dyche’s for his lack of faith in youth, or both, it isn’t ideal at the moment for an Everton side that has only just got going this season.