In a recent interview with Give Me Sport, journalist Paul Brown stated that Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko has lost the trust of his manager Sean Dyche. Brown said,
“If we break it down, I think Patterson is much better going forward than he is defensively. I think he makes bad 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’s Tough Spell At Goodison Park Last Season
Mykolenko endured a difficult spell at Merseyside last season when he struggled to help Everton find consistency in the Premier League. The 24-year-old made 35 appearances for the Toffees in the previous campaign across multiple competitions.
The Ukraine international was a decent defender at the back based on his average of 1.7 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 2.6 clearances per game in the Premier League. He has even been tidy when distributing possession from inside his half as he completed 75.6% of his attempted passes in the English top tier (stats via whoscored).
Does Mykolenko Have A Future At Everton?
Mykolenko proved himself to be a capable presence on the defensive end of the field for the Toffees last season. He can time his tackles well to make some timely interceptions for his team inside his half. The Ukrainian talent usually puts his foot through the ball when needed but has struggled to be productive going forward.
Mykolenko has failed to nail down a regular spot in Sean Dyche‘s starting XI this season. Hence, he has now got no choice but to fight for his Everton future.
At 24, there is still a lot of room for improvement in Mykolenko’s game. Hence, the Toffees might still unlock the best out of him if they are willing to be patient with his progress at Merseyside.
