According to journalist Paul Brown, Sean Dyche is working to assemble an Everton team that can excel in the Premier League, but one player may not have a future at Goodison Park.
Is the Everton team powerful enough?
The Blues have had a difficult few seasons in the top division, going through back-to-back relegation struggles and just escaping on both occasions. Dyche had to make some crucial additions during the summer transfer window, especially in attack because goals had been hard to come by for an extended period of time.
Everton appear to have made a couple of key additions in that area of the pitch, with loan signing Arnaut Danjuma and permanent arrival Beto both having an impact in the 2-2 draw away to Sheffield United, and it’s fair to say they look astute additions so far.
That was the Blues’ first point of the season, however, and further improvements are needed, but it was clearly a step in the right direction, with fellow new signing Jack Harrison due to come into the fold before too long.
There are then players who could be deemed surplus to requirements moving forward, however, and a key update has emerged regarding one such individual.
What has Vitaliy Mykolenko been said?
In an interview with Give Me Sport, Brown asserted that Mykolenko is currently finding it difficult to win over Dyche and may soon be replaced.
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.”
Mykolenko, who joined Everton from Dynamo Kiev last year, has been a generally poor acquisition. In 52 appearances for the club, he has only registered one goal and no assists. This demonstrates the left-back’s serious lack of attacking ability and makes clear why Dyche doesn’t rate him.
While the 24-year-old does have quality on his good days, it serves no purpose to cling onto a player who is underappreciated by the management. He has just played in the EFL Cup this season and has not seen a single minute of Premier League football.
Frank Lampard once praised Mykolenko as “outstanding” after a strong showing against Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, but if a worthy substitute can be found, it makes perfect sense to let him go in the January transfer window.
