Vitalii Mykolenko’s return to fitness, according to Sean Dyche, gives his Everton team a competitive edge as they work to transform good indicators into Premier League points.

After impressing for Ukraine with great performances against Italy and England during the international break, Mykolenko made his first league start of the season against Arsenal.

Though Dyche acknowledged he was frustrated with the level of play his players displayed when in control during the close loss to the Gunners, he also noted some positive defensive aspects.

Naturally, Mykolenko offers us balance, Dyche said to evertontv. While gone, he gave two good performances for Ukraine. I’ve been anticipating his physical fitness.

He played well, in my opinion, and his defensive play showed some promising traits.

The team’s fluidity today, which has been quite fantastic in terms of how we’ve utilized the ball, how well we’ve used it, and how eager everyone has been to get their hands on it, was missing against Arsenal.

Not enough people wanted to play throughout the transition, be active with the ball, and display a different kind of daring with the ball.

The defensive center defensive pairing of Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski, who started their third straight game together at the weekend, has shown promising early results, according to Dyche.

I thought Jarrad played well again today and that’s pleasing as he’s a young centre half earning his spurs, said Dyche.

I thought [the partnership between Branthwaite and Tarkowski was good today against some very good players. I thought we were very effective in that area of the pitch, it was more the transition area [that wasn’t there] – dealing with the ball from our point of view. 

Top teams present a challenge because they don’t just play well; they also press effectively and anticipate. We lacked ball anticipation, and our counter-attacking abilities were ineffective. It’s crucial to keep moving forward and to learn from mistakes.

Despite fielding his team in a 4-1-4-1 style against Arsenal, Dyche thinks he would be flexible with his formation and that technical nuances will continue to be crucial in their quest for future victories.

We’re trying to be efficient, but with systems, you’re sometimes only talking about 5 to 10 yards, he continued. For years, everyone said that I played 4-4-2. I didn’t, but there is no use in me disputing it; instead, I just let people talk and say whatever they want.

Due to the effectiveness of the tactical aspect of the game, we wish to be a little more flexible in this area. We know we can be a good unit when it’s provided well.

Although we haven’t scored any points this year, it is absolutely our responsibility to do so. I’ve never used that as a cover. The standings are accurate. It occasionally lies about how much effort you put in to perform so that you can obtain more, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t genuinely lie.

We are situated where we are. We do have a point, but we also need and deserve more. We must proceed and provide those details that I’m  talking about.