David Moyes’ Everton Return

When David Moyes was first proposed as the next Everton manager, I was optimistic, but cautiously so. In general, I am not a fan of going back in football. Yet when asked, I was supportive on a balance of probabilities. Here was a man who had been in a similar situation before (West Ham twice, Sociedad once, and Everton once) and had ultimately always delivered the goods, keeping the team up on each occasion—which was the primary mission. There always felt a sense of unfinished business, a problem for both parties following his initial departure, and the romantic in me always felt it would be a shame if we ended up never quite making the appointment as timelines didn’t match.

In truth, there have been multiple suggestions or moments when it could have happened previously. In 2016, he seemed keen for the job, but the optimism that surrounded a new owner, allied to Moyes coming off a bad run at both Manchester United and Sunderland, meant he was never really a credible candidate. Eighteen months later, in 2017, he could have come in to do the sort of short-term job Sam Allardyce did. To an extent, West Ham beat us to the punch, but again, I am not sure how interested Everton were. The interest was, however, strong two years later when he was allegedly very close to joining, only to be jilted when Ancelotti was sacked. Eighteen months on again, and this time Everton wanted Moyes, but he, perhaps understandably, felt that he was better served at West Ham, where he was slowly moving them up the table. There was even a suggestion he may have come in in 2023 when Lampard was sacked, but ultimately his sacking never came, and Everton opted for Dyche. It felt at one point that it was never going to happen, but in 2025 it finally did, and six games in, the majority of fans will be relieved it has, at least for now.

The easy conclusion would be that the new owners, TFG, see the same thing in him that previous chairman Bill Kenwright would have done: a nostalgic look to the past, a simpler time where a chronic lack of ambition had not defenestrated the club in quite the same way. While I can’t talk with absolute certainty, I suspect they saw different things from what Kenwright would have done. His Evertonian credentials were not front and centre, but perhaps more his extensive experience managing top-flight games, his recent track record of success at West Ham, and his desire to be involved in all aspects of club building would have proven very attractive. It marked a similar approach to what they have employed at Roma, where Ranieri has been installed, and they are tapping into his wealth of experience. Running a football club is hard, and Moyes’s desire to be heavily involved in all aspects would have stood in his favour, as Everton remains a club that has been gutted of key personnel over recent years and is in need of rebuilding.

Before that, though, they have a manager who is able to add significant value in the short term. In 2002, he arrived at an Everton team just outside of the relegation zone, with 17 points from the previous 19 games (akin to this season), and he led them to 13 points from the remaining 9 games. In truth, I would have bitten your hand off for that return; that he has done so in just 6 league games is an even bigger testament to Moyes and his pragmatism.

When we remember Moyes, what sticks in the memory is typically his sides from around 2007-2013. These were, to a lesser or greater degree, what we would consider “his” teams. Probably 2006-2010 was the clearest example of this, before new financial investment from City and lack of resources for Everton saw Everton have to lose key players. There was more pragmatism and experience in the team in the later years, but less youth. I always sensed a conservatism crept into Moyes, and he may have slightly underachieved with the quality of players in big games. What is often missing, though, is that first period, where he essentially reorganised existing older professionals to achieve a 7th and 4th place finish, on 63 and 61 points, from a similar position to what he has inherited.

I have been revisiting some of those games, and there are subtle changes he makes. David Unsworth, a centre back turned fullback, is employed on the left wing, and his fantastic left foot rewarded Moyes with 2 crucial goals in the first two games. When injuries hit, he plays him at central midfield. At different moments, Kevin Campbell and Duncan Ferguson are given central roles in the starting 11. Veteran defenders Alan Stubbs and David Weir remain the first-choice duo even 3.5 years into his project. There is a slow evolution and an understanding of how to adapt game plans to maximise players’ skills. It feels a somewhat foreign concept in a world of coaches playing a singular way and directors of football continually churning out new signings with ever-increasing regularity. Moyes is something of a throwback, and in truth, a true pragmatist.

While I don’t wish to eulogise either Dyche or Smith, they both had failings; they were both probably good coaches for Moyes to follow. They suited a manager who would evolve the playing style, add more attacking impetus, but do so in a way that didn’t neglect the sound defensive base that has been left. Moyes is a better manager than Dyche, not because both men are keen on a strong defence, but because Moyes can also recognise how to develop from that point and put some attacking coaching in. However, Moyes is not kamikaze and doesn’t do so in a way that tanks results in the short term. He was the perfect tactical fit, in a way that simply wasn’t evident previously.

Martinez, Koeman, Allardyce, Silva, Ancelotti, Benitez, Lampard, Dyche. You couldn’t really wish to see a more diverse range of managers—young, old, foreign, and English; managers who had a clear tactical system and ones that were adaptive; managers who favoured experience while others wanted youth. It is little wonder that money was wasted and performances dropped off. It’s also very hard to see how one manager leads into the next, with perhaps the one exception being Benitez following Ancelotti, which stylistically could have worked, but Benitez was not a good enough manager to allow it to do so. However, this feels like the best changeover we have had—a manager who can utilise the positive work of Sean Dyche while adding additional performance layers without undoing those positives.

One marked opportunity and reason for optimism is the squad makeup and age profile of both squads. The reality is, Moyes tended to work best with players aged around 22-25 as opposed to players much before or much after. There are exceptions—Coleman came in younger but only solidified himself in that age range (similar to Osman and Hibbert). Most of Moyes’ best signings fitted that age profile: Cahill (24), Yobo (22), Jagielka (24), Lescott (23), Arteta (22), Pienaar (25), Mirallas (24), Fellaini (21), & Baines (22) were all recruited into that sweet spot. Yet, due to financial constraints, it would take Moyes 5-6 years to assemble such a group together.

Partially as a result of fiscal austerity, partially due to the conservatism of the previous manager, the squad he inherited in 2002 was not filled with players of this age. Of players who were at the club when he arrived, who had started a game, there were only really 4 players under 25 (Naysmith, Clarke, Chadwick, & Hibbert), while Linderoth was added to the squad shortly before he arrived. He would also notably have a certain Wayne Rooney (who is a critical caveat to this, as Everton don’t have a player approaching his quality in the squad). However, you have essentially 6 players at the club under 25 who have started a game. With this squad, you have almost double that, with 11, with McNeil and Mykolenko having only recently turned 25, and there is Chermiti, who is part of the first-team setup if he were not injured, who would add to that intake.

So the squad he is inheriting is younger and has far more players in the age range that he would look to work with. This is in part due to the positive work undertaken by Kevin Thelwell in recruitment. With the additional funding available from far wealthier owners in TFG, and funds from a new stadium to add into the mix, there does lie the possibility that the sort of transformation that took Moyes maybe 5-6 years could be completed in a much shorter time period. The performance and essence of the squad look increasingly mid-table (even with huge injury problems), and a significant recruitment of, say, 6-8 new faces in the summer could potentially bolster the team further.

The reality of Moyes’s first spell is you can essentially split it into 3 periods: the initial 3-4 years of inconsistency/improvement, the second part of his most authentic team but dealing with departures slowly draining the team, and the final part where a mixture of shrewd buys and younger players turning into experienced pros maintained performance. To move from phase 1 to 2 took Moyes 3-4 years, but there is reasonable evidence to suggest that this process could be achieved more quickly this time.

For a starting point, he has a much younger squad, as we have noted above. The league itself is more fluid than 20 years ago, with sides increasingly moving up the league table quite rapidly when on the back of some momentum. Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest have all gone from relegation strugglers (and in some cases almost certainties) to top-4 challengers in a season. The same paradigm Moyes existed in, with a fixed top 4, is no longer in place. It’s not to say it may not re-emerge (personally, I’m not sure it will), but at present, it isn’t. It’s not certain that the next in line is Everton, but the opportunity exists. Finally, in terms of resources, competency, and ambition, the new owners are streets ahead of what he worked with previously. They are extremely wealthy and have backed Roma very heavily in their time in Italy. You see little reason why Everton would not be the same, and indeed, the comments from Moyes about wanting to move beyond where Brentford sit and compete at the top end of the league amplify that sentiment.

One lesson from Moyes’s first spell was that there was an ongoing frustration from Moyes that he was not financially backed by Kenwright and Everton. You always sensed Moyes had bigger ambitions that the club couldn’t ultimately satisfy. Crucially, I don’t think he’s an Ancelotti, or indeed one of a number of managers who want huge monies every summer, but you do feel he would like the ability to keep a squad together and add 2-3 good players each summer. He has never been one to want to shop in football’s Harrods, but giving him the resources to bring in potentially multiple Cahills, Baines, or Artetas is a positive prospect.

It may well even challenge Moyes, who himself is quite cautious. The likelihood is the summer window will need to be quite busy, far busier than you feel Moyes naturally wants. The unanswered question will be, can you acquire 5-6 in one window of that quality, as opposed to 1-2? Does it dilute the recruitment by having to add more? However, what is of little doubt is Moyes will be pressed to be quicker than when he was first at the club.

To me, it is not unrealistic to suggest that Everton could get to the same point they were at 3.5 years in, in 18 months. It’s certainly challenging, but it’s not impossible. The resources will be far greater. The positive buzz about a world-class new stadium helps, and (whisper it quietly), Everton have been an OK team for 18 months. They finished 22 points clear of relegation last season and are 13 points clear currently. This is without any serious spending being done, and certainly this season, with an enormous injury crisis (that is simply ignored in the wider media).

To give a very simple analysis, Everton with Jarrod Branthwaite have picked up 25 points from 17 games (versus 6 from 9 without him); this would be 38 points thus far this season or 56 across a season. As things currently stand, that’s 9th-11th in the league. It’s not outstanding, but it’s a useful base. Moyes has a smaller sample size; if we include the FA Cup, he has had 8 somewhat difficult fixtures with 14 points achieved, which would give us 46 points at this stage or 67 across a season, which would currently be 4th or 5th in the table (over the last 2 seasons). The key question is, to what extent can this performance level be maintained?

There has to be optimism, though, if Moyes is able to add up to half a dozen younger players to the squad and can emulate anywhere close to what he has with, say, Beto, O’Brien, or to a degree, Lindstrom, with the likes of Calvert-Lewin, Ireogbunam, McNeil, and Chermiti, who have all been injured and played a little part, there are grounds to reasonably suggest we can get back to the top-6 performance level that typified his first spell. The great unanswerable will be whether, with the right resources and a patient culture, he can do more than this? What is very fair to say is the high-expectation culture of one of the top teams does not suit Moyes. But an ownership that is able to show patience and not overly interfere in the process? That could really suit him and the club overall.