Everton boss Sean Dyche has encouraged his side to develop a 'killer mentality' in front of goal after the Toffees squandered several chances in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Manchester United in the Premier League.
After making a promising start at Old Trafford, Everton fell two goals behind in the opening 36 minutes, with a pair of penalties converted by Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford respectively ultimately enough to secure maximum points for the Red Devils.
Dyche's men struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities, but they still managed register 23 attempts on goal; only against Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 2010 (24) have the Toffees ever had more shots in a Premier League away matches without scoring since records began in 2003-04.
Everton's miserable winless run in the Premier League has been extended to 11 games, one short of a club record (12) set in 1994, and they remain 16th in the table, four points above the drop zone following Luton's Town's last-gasp 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
Only the bottom two teams Sheffield United (24) and Burnley (25) have scored fewer Premier League goals than Everton (29) so far this season, and Dyche is keen to see improvements in the final third made quickly heading down the home straight.
© Reuters
"I can't tell you how frustrated I am," Dyche told reporters after the match. "I'm trying to speak calmly about the situation, which is incredibly frustrating, after coming to Old Trafford and delivering a performance like that and yet we don't win.
"I've never been [to Old Trafford], with all due respect to the squads I've had, and had that many chances and created that many opportunities. We had 45 quality entries into their box and they had 15 into ours, but we lose the game 2-0.
"It's very frustrating but we've had a run of that. The most important stat, of course, is the final scoreline. We're getting into key areas and we need to work continuously to change it.
"The players are doing a lot right and these stats, usually, bring more than we got today, but I'm never naive enough to ignore what is most important thing and the bit we have to get right, which is the scoreline.
"There's a good belief in the camp with what we're doing, but you've got to score goals, finish your chances. The key to it is to get that killer mentality because we're getting into so many good areas with so much quality and then not finding the moment to finish it all off.
"It's very difficult when I'm watching the team with so much quality, getting in those areas, and not taking their chances.
© Reuters
"The expectation continues to be the same – win games. Win games for yourselves, for your mates, for Everton Football Club, for the badge. That devilment in the box and that desire to go and get the last touch and put the ball in the net, it's got to be constant, and that's the bit we're lacking."
Dyche added: "I said to the players – and you've heard me talk about this in the media in the week – not every goal can be a beautiful goal. We got into some amazing chances today where we should be scoring but we don't.
"But then, if you can't score them, what about scoring the ugly ones? The fight-scene ones. What about the one like [Alejandro Garnacho] sprinting to get the ball to draw a foul to win a penalty? Go and get hurt like that.
"When I was playing at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough used to say to us 'you've got to get hurt to score a goal'. I understood what he meant then, because sometimes you can't score a beautiful goal, you've just got to fight, get there before [an opponent], score an ugly goal, throw yourself at something to score a goal, not just wait for all the lovely goals.
"That's what we've got to change – the willingness to get hurt to go and score a goal."
Everton now have a three-week break before their walk out for their next Premier League fixture away against Bournemouth on March 30.
No Data Analysis info
