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Dyche Baffled by Everton’s Lack of Penalties

Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Crystal Palace v Everton - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - January 4, 2024 Everton manager Sean Dyche before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Crystal Palace v Everton - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - January 4, 2024 Everton manager Sean Dyche before the match. (Reuters)
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Dyche Baffled by Everton’s Lack of Penalties

Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Crystal Palace v Everton - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - January 4, 2024 Everton manager Sean Dyche before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Crystal Palace v Everton - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - January 4, 2024 Everton manager Sean Dyche before the match. (Reuters)

Everton manager Sean Dyche said it is "peculiar" that his club have reached the halfway point in the season without being awarded a penalty in the Premier League.

The only side in the 20-team English topflight not to have been given a spot kick, Everton, alongside Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, have also conceded the most penalties (five) this season.

"If you get to this stage of a season and you've not had a penalty, that's peculiar," Dyche told reporters ahead of Everton's game against Aston Villa.

"It is quite alarming when you see how many penalties are given for tiny touches which we can't work out sometimes. Some people see it as the 'modern game', but I find it alarming how many penalties are given for almost nothing.

"If that is the rule across the board then it goes against the stats that we haven't had a penalty. We will have to see if it balances up in the second half of the season."

Everton, who became the first Premier League club to be deducted points for breaching financial sustainability rules in November, are 17th in the league with 16 points from 20 matches. They host second-placed Villa at Goodison Park on Sunday.

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Osaka Perplexed by Power Struggles After Cincinnati Setback 

Naomi Osaka of Japan serves during her match against Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (not pictured) during Day 2 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 12, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Naomi Osaka of Japan serves during her match against Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (not pictured) during Day 2 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 12, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Osaka Perplexed by Power Struggles After Cincinnati Setback 

Naomi Osaka of Japan serves during her match against Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (not pictured) during Day 2 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 12, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Naomi Osaka of Japan serves during her match against Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (not pictured) during Day 2 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 12, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)

Naomi Osaka said she still does not feel like herself on court eight months into her comeback season following a maternity break, with the four-times Grand Slam champion puzzled at her lack of power and accuracy.

The Japanese 26-year-old was beaten by Ashlyn Krueger in the second round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, the latest setback in a patchy run of form heading into the final Grand Slam of the year at the US Open from Aug. 26-Sept. 8.

"My biggest issue currently isn't losses though, my biggest issue is that I don't feel like I'm in my body," Osaka wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

"It's a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn't miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try to tell myself, 'It's fine you're doing great. Just get through this one and keep pushing', mentally it's really draining through.

"Internally, I hear myself screaming, 'What the hell is happening?!?!'"

Osaka returned to action in January after a 15-month break during which she gave birth to her daughter. She is now ranked 90th in the world.

"I've played a handful of matches this year that I felt like I was myself and I know this moment is probably just a small phase from all the new transitions (clay, grass, clay, hard), however the only feeling I could liken how I feel right now to is being post-partum," Osaka said.

"That scares me because I've been playing tennis since I was three, the racket should feel like an extension of my hand."

Osaka's next event will be at Flushing Meadows, where she triumphed in 2018 and 2020, but she said she did not understand why everything about her game felt "almost brand new" again.

"This should be as simple as breathing to me, but it's not," she added.

"I genuinely did not give myself grace for that fact until just now."

Despite her struggles, Osaka said she loved putting in the work each day and "eventually having the opportunity to get to where you want to be".