Sean Dyche called Everton’s 3-2 home loss to Bournemouth the most frustrating defeat of his career.
Sean Dyche’s team looked to be cantering towards a first Premier League victory of the season after second-half goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put them in a commanding position.
But after Antoine Semenyo scored with what was only Bournemouth’s second shot on target in the 87th minute, Everton collapsed as stoppage-time goals from Lewis Cook and Luis Sinisterra completed a turnaround that Andoni Iraola admitted his side did not deserve.
Dyche said: “I’ve had a few [defeats] down my years as a player, coach, manager, but this is the most frustrating because to dominate a game for so long and come out of it without something at least is incredibly frustrating.
“These are ones that as a manager you scratch your head at.”
‘I could smell it in the air’
Dyche said he sensed his side were not quite at the races, telling Sky Sports: “They had one shot on target before their goal and we just threw the game away, just from not doing the hard yards and the basics – win tackles, win headers and see the game through.
“We don’t do that and they chip it forward like they had done all day – which we dealt with all day – and our body language said it all.
“We haven’t taken our chances today, which has been a theme. The game should have been gone.
“When they got one I could smell it in the air – not to lose the game but I thought ‘we’re not on it here’. I was trying to get them to do the basics but when the players are out there it’s not as easy.
“We played really well. But you’ve got to see the game in the Premier League. You have to play for every minute in the Premier League and now and again these anomalies happen.
“There’s been enough damage here in the time I’ve been here and we’ve got to find a way through it.”
In his press conference, Dyche added: “I speak to the players all the time and that’s been my biggest frustration since I walked in here. I tell them, ‘The game lasts for as long as the referee makes it last and you have to play for every breath of the game’.
“You see a side dominate so clearly and create so many chances – unfortunately [taking chances] has been a challenge as long as I’ve been here – and then just not do the basics. Win your headers, win your tackles, win your races and you
win the game.
“But for whatever reason they score a goal and we’re just looking at each other, ‘Who’s going to win a challenge, who’s going to win a race, who’s going to win a header?’ We’re waiting for someone else to make a difference.
“After the first goal I could smell it in the air. Not necessarily not winning but I could smell it, ‘This ain’t right’, and I’m screaming at them to get their shape and do the ugly side of the game, and we didn’t and they get a win out of
nowhere.”
‘How does Dyche pick them up after this?’
Michael Dawson speaking on Soccer Saturday:
“Everton were in absolute cruise control. Today they looked a different team – they were flying in the second half. I thought it was game over.
“The way they conceded the goals from three crosses just isn’t Everton or Sean Dyche. You talk about game management, at 2-1 up Everton were still going for the third goal. They thought they were home and dry but they were anything but. It was mind-blowing.
“How do you pick the players up after that?”
Everton have the international break to lick their wounds, before a trip to Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports on September 14.