Sean Dyche arrived at Everton with the club embroiled in a relegation battle for a second season in a row after predecessor Frank Lampard was shown the door after roughly a year in charge.
The Ex-Burnley manager was tasked with keeping the Toffees in the Premier League and, after a dramatic final day, he did just that.
Dyche managed to earn big wins over Arsenal, Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth by placing his trust in a solid core of players that repaid him over the course of a few months.
Not every Everton fan would have agreed with his choices to drop or recall certain players, especially during a tense part of the season, but his choices are certainly justified now.
In fact, his use of certain players has told us a lot about the style he’s tried to implement, but, in some cases, his hand has been forced with the squad he inherited and he found a way to get results battling against injuries and a poorly balanced squad.
On that note, we’ve decided to see which players were the most trusted under the Goodison Park boss by listing them in order of total minutes played (for which they were available) - with two players achieving a 100% minutes played.
1. James Tarkowski - 100% of Available Minutes
The defender was one of two players to play all of the 1620 minutes available under Dyche and was a huge presence during the back end of the season. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
2. Jordan Pickford - 100% of Available Minutes
Of course, Pickford was entrusted with every minute and he pulled off some miraculous saves during the relegation run-in, including on the final day. He recently signed a new deal and is certainly one of the fans’ favourite stars.
3. Abdoulaye Doucoure - 99% of Available Minutes
Doucoure was brought back into the fray after Lampard crucially under-utilised the powerful midfielder. He went onto play 1314/1321 of the minutes available and scored vital goals against Brighton and Bournemouth to keep the Toffees up.
4. Dwight McNeil - 99% of Available Minutes
McNeil played under Dyche at Burnley so it stands to reason he would go onto be a key player. His Brighton performance was one of the best individual showings in a Blue shirt we’ve seen for a long time.