Sean Dyche believes he has brought the best out of Dwight McNeil at Everton by urging the winger to play with a smile and release the pressure he puts on himself.
McNeil has flourished at Everton since being reunited with his former Burnley manager, having initially struggled under Frank Lampard after a £20m move from Turf Moor. The 24-year-old ended his debut season at Goodison Park as Everton’s leading goalscorer and has been instrumental in the club’s rise out of the relegation zone, scoring the winner at Nottingham Forest last Saturday and the breakthrough in the impressive 3-0 defeat of Newcastle on Thursday.
Dyche feels McNeil can be too self-critical and that encouraging the winger to enjoy his game more has been key to a vast improvement.
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“Reminding him what he is good at and believing in him,” said Dyche, when asked how he had coaxed McNeil back into form. “I gave him his debut, obviously, and I think he is a very, very good player.
“He puts a lot of weight on himself and I told him: ‘You’ve got to relax that, release it and enjoy your performances.’ Play with a smile. When he plays with a smile he runs hard for the team and it all starts to come together. I think he’s done that since I’ve been in and I’m very pleased he’s getting the rewards. He’s got power, we know that, and they were two very good goals.”
Everton’s third goal against Newcastle, Beto’s first in the Premier League, came at the end of a 30-pass move. Only Manchester City have scored a goal after a longer passing sequence this season. The win was Everton’s eighth in 12 matches in all competitions and Dyche has attributed the upturn to an improved culture.
The manager, whose team host Chelsea on Sunday, said: “It helps when the standard is high in the training ground, which I think we’ve got now. The culture and environment we’re working in is very good. I spoke to the players this week about the drive and determination to train properly every day. I think that’s growing all the time. We’ll certainly be coming back to Goodison in good shape.”