David Moyes spoke earnestly of his delight in returning to the Goodison Park helm, nearly 12 years after leaving to take the reins at Manchester United.
The 61-year-old had enjoyed an 11-year spell at Everton, reaching the Champions League qualifying rounds in 2005 and recording nine top-eight finishes in the Premier League.
Sean Dyche deserves credit for leading Everton through a tumultuous time, comfortably avoiding relegation last season despite the club being hit with an eight-point deduction for PSR breaches. But he took Everton as far as he could.
Moyes is back on a two-and-a-half-year deal and has been tasked with restoring integrity and focus, with dysfunction ruling supreme over the past however many interminable years.
It’s never quite been the same. For old – and, to be fair, new – time’s sake, let’s have a look a the lay of the land when he last led the Toffees out on the Premier League turf.
Moyes’ best Everton XI from first spell
It’s been a long time since Moyes kept Everton solid and comparatively successful in the Premier League. Fans will be itching to see whether he can repeat the feat now that he has been anointed once more, but based on his previous squad-sculpting at the club, there’s just cause for optimism.
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Moyes’ Best Everton XI (01 – 13) |
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GK – Tim Howard |
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RB – Tony Hibbert |
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CB – Phil Jagielka |
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CB – Joleon Lescott |
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LB – Leighton Baines |
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CM – Marouane Fellaini |
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CM – Thomas Gravesen |
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RM – Mikel Arteta |
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AM – Tim Cahill |
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LM – Steven Pienaar |
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CF – Wayne Rooney |
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Football FanCast’s opinion |
There are some iconic names in there. Tim Howard is one of the best goalkeepers in Everton’s modern history, and Leighton Baines is probably their finest left-back ever. Tony Hibbert just pips Seamus Coleman at right-back, though the Irishman is unquestionably one of Everton’s shrewdest signings at just £60k.
How could we exclude Marouane Fellaini? Tomas Soucek was something of a retelling over in east London, and Moyes will be keen on landing a monstrous new midfielder now that he’s back on Merseyside.
Wayne Rooney only scored 17 goals across 77 appearances for the Scotland tactician, but it was indeed Moyes who birthed one of England’s greatest-ever players onto the professional scene.
Tim Cahill and Steven Pienaar and many, many more besides who failed to quite make the 11-man cut. There are so many fond memories with Moyes at the helm – and perhaps the best is yet to come.
However, there’s no hiding from the fact that Moyes has a gigantic task on his hands, and must strengthen with haste if he is to be successful in his endeavour.
Everton transfer news
You’d think that Everton will be focused on bolstering up top this winter, for Moyes is sure to recognise Everton’s deficiencies in the final third.
Ernest Nuamah could be the man for the job at right wing, a position of concern for the outfit. Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom have both fallen flat and with their loan moves up at the end of the season it’s unlikely their stay will be extended under Moyes’ wing.
Defensively, Goodison Park is solid. Moyes knows his stuff at the rearguard and should be able to maintain the defensive authority that has seen them concede just 25 goals in the Premier League this season – the fewest across any side outside the top seven.
Foot Africa have also confirmed since the new year that Everton are looking at signing Strasbourg’s Habib Diarra, with the progressive midfielder exactly what Moyes needs to charge his engine room.
Let’s piece this together and have a look-see at how the Toffees might line up under Moyes.
Everton’s dream XI under Moyes
Jordan Pickford will keep his place between the sticks, hailed as he is as “monster” of a goalkeeper by content creator Josh Wright.
The defence shouldn’t receive any work this winter, though Nathan Patterson could find himself going from strength to strength with Moyes in the dugout. As you were for Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski.
Transfer target Diarra’s progressiveness should see him make waves in midfield, perhaps even assuming the role that Declan Rice played under Moyes at West Ham.
Diarra has completed 87% of his passes in Ligue 1 this term while averaging 0.8 key passes and 3.7 successful duels per game, as per Sofascore. It’s also been recorded by FBref that the Senegal star ranks among the top 8% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for progressive carries per 90, certainly in the same vein as the box-crashing Rice, who ranks among the top 9% himself.
We’ve already had a look at Nuamah, whose pace and potency make him the perfect electric option to add some dynamism and fizz to an Everton attack crying out for inspiration in that regard.
Iliman Ndiaye will keep his place on the left flank, to be sure, while Dwight McNeil’s playmaking expertise will come in handy in the new system – Lucas Paqueta Regen, anyone?
Then, last but not least, there’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is out of contract at the end of the campaign. Will Everton target a striker this month? Who knows. The funding might not be there given that Nuamah is being pursued.
However, with Armando Broja and Beto endowed with more athleticism than the England international, who has gone 15 straight Premier League fixtures without a single goal contribution, Moyes might be tempted to show some ruthlessness and throw him in the bin.
Moyes’ dream Everton XI after January – GK – Pickford; RB – Patterson, CB – Tarkowski, CB – Branthwaite, LB – Mykolenko; CM – Diarra, CM – Garner; RM – Nuamah, CAM – McNeil, LM – Ndiaye; ST – Broja
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