David Moyes discusses Everton’s European push and incredible away record

Dear “grey headed one”,

It’s time to drop Tarkowski; I like him but he’s becoming a liability. Jarrad’s back now and there’s absolutely no harm in dropping him.

I don’t envy your decisions when it comes to midfield, Dewsbury-Hall and Garner have to start, also Ndiaye, but I think it was harsh to drop Rohl after the game he had because Gana was back.

Again, I like Gana and I feel it’s a tough decision between him and giving Rohl another go, but Gana is getting on a bit and could maybe do with a rest, especially after Afcon.

I would love to see what George can do if given a start but it’s a tough one because I’m thinking Armstrong may have to be benched, so I think I’d like to see a midfield of Garner, Gana/Rohl then Ndiaye, George and Dewsbury-Hall, with Barry up front.

If only you read this forum! 🤪

Yes, the results away are fine and they make up for the results at home.

However, we have ridden our luck many times and a lot still needs to be sorted out before next season comes around.

Injuries haven’t helped but many clubs suffer the same way.

With the good luck and returning players we are getting more difficult to beat.

Next season, I hope to see Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien as the central defenders.

Barry, Dibling, Rohl and Armstrong are players who need to cement their claims and George could be the difference in improving the offense.

Alcaraz and Gana may become surplus.

We didn’t do well to make sure it was only 1-0 at half-time, David, we got bloody lucky!

Hopefully we continue being lucky because, at the end of the day, everyone knows that winning breeds confidence.

We were also unlucky with Jake’s header off the post, Barry almost getting into Dewsbury-Hall’s square pass in the first half, and Gana hitting the post late against Leeds to win it!!

It’s swings and roundabouts, and the reason people say the table doesn’t lie.

Agreed Sean, without playing fantastically, we had one off the post and still had the odd chance in the first half.

Yes, we were a little under the cosh but the goal we conceded was as unlucky as can be, despite mistakes from Gana and Keane. Pickford still saved it, Myklenko was just unfortunate to rebound it into our goal.

We started bright, done well for first 10 minutes, then was clearly the better side in the second half.

Being second-best to Fulham at Fulham for half-an-hour isn’t something we can really complain about. Only last season, we were all shitting ourselves over being in the Championship with a big shiny new stadium.

Says it all about Moyes — he has one eye on relegation still when we are on 37 points with 13 games left.

We are 7th in a Euro spot, yet Moyes is worried people will think he’s mad for thinking of staying there? His attempt at optimism just emphasizes his negativity.

Tom and Tony, spot on there with the luck element, we can’t continue in the belief we are better than we actually are.

However, without being too ambivalent, if it is solely down to luck, it is about time it favoured us. I wouldn’t be dismissing Alcaraz either as he has something that could be very useful on his day. There again, he has that short fuse stupidity that creeps in every now and then.

Kieran, yes a Euro spot could be achievable, if he starts being positive, starting with a balanced team selection and more timely use of subs if required. Surely after Man City’s marvellous win (untouted by the so-called pundits) it should be a spur to finish above them in the run-in!

To be fair to the manager, there are clear structural gaps in the squad that were not addressed in the January transfer window.

If the owners had stepped up to support Moyes, then I would be more confident of a European place.

The lesser of the big “E” words it is then.

Regardless of luck and the lesser quality of football entertainment, Moyes is doing better than any of the more recent managers, with the exception maybe of Ancelotti.

The question is, regardless of his record, can he oversee a higher standard of entertainment that sees us consistently vying for titles and trophies? NSNO.

There is every possibility we can grab a European place but for that, we’ll most certainly need to start putting some home victories on the board.

If we can pinch another two away wins and maybe a draw, that would give us 7 more away points. What we need is at least 4 more wins at home. We haven’t won anything like enough at home, with last win being in early December — that needs to change tomorrow night.

We have a squad to choose from now (injuries permitting fingers crossed no more) and the arrival of George will add a new dynamic with the pace and directness he brings.

The jury remains very much out on Dibling and whether or not he has the necessary hunger and drive to make it at the top. He is still young, but the hunger should be there at a young age because I don’t think that just comes about out of nowhere.

Likewise for Barry in many ways, when he has had chances, he’s looked a decent enough finisher… but I do question whether he’s really cut out for the lone striker position, he doesn’t appear to enjoy the dirty work.

There is much hard graft needed, players like Andy Johnson, Marcus Bent were masters at digging in with the running but I don’t see that in Barry’s game.

Steve,

Moyes said straight out that he was supported by the owners.

Why should we not believe him?

Tony, when have you known Moyes to holster his opinions? I don’t recall him ever holding back when he was unhappy about something.

If he wasn’t supported, do you believe he would kiss up and say otherwise?

Since Moyes took over:

TEAM P W D L GD PTS
1 Arsenal 43 26 12 5 46 90
2 Man City 41 25 8 8 45 83
3 Aston Villa 43 24 9 10 18 81
4 Liverpool 42 22 10 10 23 76
5 Chelsea 42 22 9 11 23 75
6 Everton 44 18 14 12 8 68
7 Brentford 42 20 7 15 11 67
8 Brighton 42 17 13 12 8 64
9 Newcastle 43 19 7 17 8 64
10 Man Utd 43 17 12 14 5 63

And still some moan.

The Premier League is closer than ever. We will have frustrating results, but look at where we are compared to where we were. It’s incredible.

Like him or not, he has done a fantastic job to galvanise a losing team. I can’t believe how many whine about him not giving certain players more time. It’s because he sees them every day. He knows what they are capable of. And if they aren’t good enough yet, he won’t play them.

We are fighting for Europe. It’s not the time to play kids who aren’t ready. The suggestion that he won’t play kids is bollocks. He’s started Armstrong in nearly every game since he came back.

He knows what he is doing. But like every manager, won’t always get it right. Teams are so close in ability that fine margins can win games. 6th in over a season’s worth of games. He deserves huge credit.

Correct Tony, such clear structural gaps in the squad ignored again by TFG.

It reminds me of the Benitez quote that got him the sack at Valencia — “I was hoping for a sofa and they’ve brought me a lamp.”

I was reading a discussion on the match thread about whether O’Brien can be taught to play full-back. Rather than spend 2 seasons trying to teach him the position, it might have been a better use of time to actually sign a right-back.

Chris, yes, beyond all the arguments, the statistics are there for all to see.

It’s undeniable the job he’s done. On what was a wretched side.

Look no further than West Ham, Mike. He didn’t admit until he left that he wasn’t prepared to work with the new DoF.

He was extremely unhappy about it but never said a word publicly.

Managers only tend to go public about their displeasure when they know they are leaving, either voluntarily or not, and we’ve seen a few of those this season. But not generally while in the job.

Every manager out there wants more and better players. I’m sure Moyes did too in January. Maybe even a full-back or two. The issue is whether the reason or excuse for them not appearing seems plausible.

In our case, Friedkin could argue that he spent £100M net last summer and this is a re-build over time. Provided the owner is not demanding more than is viable, Moyes might regard that as plausible. But not so much if another £100M net (or at least something approaching that) is not forthcoming this summer.

If it isn’t, Moyes (and we) will know the owner’s ambition is pretty much just to stay in the Premier League and adjust spend accordingly.

Thomas Frank is showing how hard it is to move from a small club to a biggish club and replicate the success.

6 points above the drop zone, big stadium, loads of money, big squad of international players.

It is hard turning it around when expectations are high.

TFG don’t strike me as the type of owners who would brook a manager briefing against them, so David Moyes is entirely sensible to sheath his opinions. If the fans can see that we’re crying out for full-backs, I’ve no doubt that David can too.

But… we are where we are and, entertainment or not, David is doing the business, whether I like some of the line-ups or not.

If (and it’s a big fucking ‘if’) we beat Bournemouth tomorrow, it’s starting to look very good. I actually think we’ll do better in the “tougher” fixtures; it plays very nicely into the team’s strategy this season, the much-maligned KITAP1.

If the team continue to be pragmatic and resolute in defence and grind results out. I see no reason why we can’t claim a European place.

We have tough games coming up against Arsenal and Chelsea; get points from those games and I think that we could qualify for Europe.

I do believe he might keep quiet, Mike, yes, for the simple reason that he hasn’t said anything.

Maybe Moyes is happy; maybe there’s a plan in place? But when we won away at Forest, it was clear that the next few fixtures across the board gave us a real chance to push towards the Champions League places and our squad was very threadbare at the time.

He dropped Patterson after that victory, and we got 1 point from the next two very winnable home games, then he reinstated him for the Villa game and we got a great 3 points.

So it’s also possible that people within the club might have thought we didn’t need another right-back, although I personally thought it was a massive opportunity lost when we never got a couple of badly needed reinforcements at the beginning of January.

Surely with the experience that Moyes now has, he must have been naturally thinking that there’s no time like the present in football (an undeniable fact)… but maybe you’re right, Mike, and maybe he’s happy with things right now.

Mark #19, certainly a strong possibility. Moyes will know what TFG are willing to spend this summer.

But he will also know something we don’t — what TFG are able to spend under PSR/SCR restrictions, which will be determined by the revenues the club is able to generate.

Hopefully the increased gameday cash flow and the sales of Goodison Park and the women’s team have jacked up our spending ceiling significantly, but we’ll have to wait to find out until the summer.

Tony #23, you may very well be right.

And I’ve speculated to you before that TFG might be perfectly satisfied with our progress this season and aren’t driven to get us into Europe right away, given how many additional players they’d need to buy to make a European campaign viable.

They may not feel the urgency we do.

Moyes is not doing anything at all with the team he inherited; he hasn’t had to.

People like Harrison, Calvert-Lewin and Doucoure were let go. Moyes didn’t face points deductions either so the players that survived the Moshiri era were suddenly able to start sleeping again. He was also able to spend around £150M on players — not to mention the benefit of Armstrong and Grealish.

That’s around £200M worth of players that Dyche didn’t have. Major improvement wasn’t just hoped for… Evertonians had every right to expect it. Anything less than European football has to be viewed as abject failure.

Moyes has been run out of every city he has ever worked in for his crimes against football. If he can’t deliver European football next season, he’ll be ran out of town again.

Bad enough having to suffer his Zombie football, week-in & week-out without having something at the end to show for it.

Strengthen from a position of strength? Stand still and go backwards?

TFG should be throwing every permissible penny at our squad and quick sharp while the patient is showing a bit of life.

If they aren’t driven to get us into Europe right away, then they don’t match the ambition of the vast majority of our fanbase.

Darren’s codswallop is worryingly common. That’s why it needs to be challenged. The prospect of Moyes getting us 6th in the league and being run out on a rail could only happen at Everton.

Let’s not become the madhouse. Let’s not do a West Ham.
I wonder whether this last 10 years has sent some of our poor fanbase to a place they now cannot escape. They miss the horror of the trapdoor, and yearn to be back over it.

Darren @26 — perhaps a better comparison are the 2 half seasons that both Dyche and Moyes were in charge last season.

I think we had 17 points under Dyche from his 19 games and Moyes achieved 31, I think. This was achieved with the same squad bar Alcaraz — and the quality of football was much improved. No contest!

Tony #27, the key word in your post is “permissible” — we have no idea what PSR/SCR allowed Friedkin to spend in the January window. (And right now only the unemployed, like Sterling, would be available.)

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the George deal, like Grealish and Rohl, is a loan-to-buy in the summer.

I fear Moyes is figuring out how to play Friedkin.

Reading the season previews back, the general consensus was an 8th to 10th finish as progress. Getting past the Bs, was the immediate priority over the top 6.

Brentford have exceeded where many had them down, whilst spurs, forest, Newcastle have failed to kick on despite big transfer outlays.

European qualification is a fair prospect now, but it was certainly more of a pipedream at the start of the season. For those had us down for a shoe in European qualifiers, I hope you backed it at the bookies. The odds must have been decent.

It’s very clear that they don’t have the urgency that we have, Mike, otherwise I’m sure a lot more would have been done in the January window.

It’s the fact that nothing was done that worries me the most though because sometimes opportunities come around unexpectedly, and this is how I have viewed it since we won at Forest.

Moyes wants Europe but TGF might not be bothered? What a scary thought.

That’s a good point, Peter @29, but one thing that changed in December 2024 was that, after months of speculation, Everton were finally bought and all the worries that had engulfed the whole club (owner, staff and fans) suddenly began to shift.

It was too much for Dyche, he’d had enough working under those incredibly difficult circumstances, but luckily for Moyes, he did at least come into a much different club than the one that had ended up finishing Dyche. By David’s own admission, he was also left with a team that already knew how to defend.

Every single thread seems to be about the pros and cons of the manager, so hopefully we can win again tomorrow night and the people who like Moyes can rub it into the faces of the people who don’t like Moyes.

I’d definitely sooner have this rather than it being the other way around… and I don’t particularly like Moyes!!

I have got say hat not one single blue I know said in august that, if we don’t qualify for Europe, it will be a complete failure of a season. In fact, most of those who sit around me at BMD were hopeful but not hugely optimistic about a top-half finish. To suggest that anything less than a top 6/7 (depending on cut-off) is complete failure is absolute codswallop.

It could be great that now we have a chance and the manager and team need to be brave enough to grasp it. But even this means we must give credit to the manager and team for giving us the chance.

Tony @35 – for me it’s not about liking or disliking Moyes (or any of our other managers for that matter), it’s about the data.

All managers have to play the hand they are dealt — that’s why they get paid the big bucks. Factually and objectively, Moyes has done a much better job with the same squad than Dyche over the same number of games last season.

I also think we are going pretty well this season, too, but definitely need to be better at home. Is that the fault of the new stadium, though??

All the usual — not liking ‘Moyes The Cautious’ with a qualifying ‘But’ due to his last 14 months — disclaimers.

They say the table doesn’t lie, but it can mislead — a case for believing we should be at 4 or 5 points better off notwithstanding.

Points are ‘only’ what they pay out on. A true gauge of where you ‘should be’ is Goal Difference. So I have a sneaky feeling (again with the 4 or 5 points we ‘threw away’ notwithstanding) — we’re exactly where we should be: In the Middle with Zero GD.

* ‘Middle’ this season being a bit of a moveable feast of somewhere between 7th and 15th.

Any talk of next season’s Thursday Cup, though technically achievable, is total bollocks — great for an overnight away piss up… but squad depth? I’m not so sure.

If I remember correctly, you have to play 17 games to win it.

Go all in on next season’s League Cup instead.

I don’t think it’s the fault of the new stadium, Peter, no. And as for data, no wonder I’m getting more and more disinterested with football, mate.

I agree it’s not about liking or disliking the manager because I like certain things about David Moyes but my overall view is that I also like to be entertainined, especially now that the club has come through its darkest hours. Hopefully we can win tonight and people can stop blaming the stadium.

The first game against Brighton, my thoughts looking around the shiny and new beautiful stadium, a stadium we had waited a long time to witness, was that with nearly 50,000 Evertonians inside it, then we have got to turn it into a fortress.

The logistics aren’t great but, once you get inside the stadium and hear Z-Cars, my own opinion is that we could even be on the moon but we have come to watch Everton. If the players get on the front foot and play aggressively, nobody will fancy coming to Bramley-Moore Dock!