“They had such a superpowered season last season, signed a load of players and everyone just expected it to carry on and it’s not been that easy obviously,” said Dyche following Thursday’s loss in Braga.
Global sporting director Edu oversaw 11 permanent senior signings, with Omari Hutchinson’s £37.5m arrival from Ipswich breaking the club’s transfer record.
Additionally, Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived on loan from Juventus and Arsenal respectively.
But the spending was not without issues. Edu wanted younger signings with greater resale value while then-manager Nuno Espirito Santo was unhappy he did not get Adama Traore rather than Hutchinson.
There were also a couple of major outgoings, with Anthony Elanga joining Newcastle for £55m and Danilo moving to Brazilian club Botafogo for £21m.
Of the 13 to arrive, only three have made more than 10 Premier League starts – Igor Jesus (14), Nicolo Savona (11) and Dan Ndoye (14).
James McAtee, who arrived from Manchester City for close to £30m, has made one league start and winger Dilane Bakwa three. Another major signing, £26m striker Arnaud Kalimuendo, has already been dispatched to Frankfurt after nine league appearances, all as a substitute.
Meanwhile, Zinchenko’s loan spell is poised to be cancelled so he can join Ajax from Arsenal, while Chelsea are interested in taking Luiz.
The players have suffered from a chaotic start to the season, victims of circumstance, with Dyche their third manager following Nuno’s departure and Ange Postecoglou’s 39-day reign.
The combination of different personalities, styles and staff have made the adaptation to the Premier League harder but, even accepting those caveats, Dyche does not feel his fringe players have done themselves any favours.
After the FA Cup penalty shootout exit to Wrexham this month he called the performance “unacceptable to the badge”.
Nine summer signings started – including McAtee, Bakwa, Jair Cunha and Luiz – with Dyche saying some would need to “look in the mirror”.
On Thursday in Portugal, he felt some players again failed to prove themselves.
“I was expecting a bumpy road, mainly because of the squad of players and the varying competitions,” he said.
“That’s my frustration, they are building that bit of energy and belief and then it goes flat in a performance. The main frustration is we’ve seen them work all week.
“The players don’t go out there to not make it spark or happen but no one is really gripping it. The players who are maybe not playing all the time in the Premier League [need] to go and grip these games and show me the staff and themselves that ‘I’m ready’.
“There’s only bits of that. There are no real markers laid down where I go ‘right you are ready and next in’. We want that competition from the whole group.”
