Sean Dyche has denied claims that he was prepared to leave Amadou Onana out of the lineup that faced Bournemouth yesterday due to disciplinary issue
Before Idrissa Gueye suffered an injury during the warm-up and had to leave the game, the Belgian was scheduled to be included among the replacements. Onana took Idrissa Gueye’s spot in midfield alongside James Garner.
When the squads were revealed, there were rumors on social media that Onana had been temporarily dismissed by Dyche because he had been tardy to training throughout the week, but the manager has denied that claim in remarks reported by the Liverpool Echo.
“Imagine! Imagine that, as the manager, the internet seems to know more than I do, Dyche said. “That is the world of today. That is not at all the topic.
“Gana was set to play, but he was hurt. We have four; we could shift other individuals about in there, but the core group in there—Jimmy, Amadou, Gana, and Douc—were fighting, all of them.
“Due to his more advanced job, Doc could be a little different. However, it is undeniable that the other three are excellent athletes; Gana certainly has more experience.
Regardless of the motivations behind Dyche’s choice, his center midfield selection conundrum may have grown more pressing following the Blues’ 3-0 victory, in which Garner performed in his favoured position and Onana became a more commanding presence as the game went on.
The poor performance by Dyche’s squad against Luton the week previous and the fact that Jack Harrison had been pushing for a full debut wide on the right, where Garner had been used up until this weekend, were two factors that impacted Dyche’s pre-planned adjustment to that area of the field.
Gueye’s injury was classified as a heel or ankle issue, but there is currently little information available about its severity or how long, if at all, he would be out of action. Due to the international break, Everton won’t play again until October 21. If the issue is very minor, this will give the Senegal international time to heal.
