David Moyes - The Right Man For Everton?

David Moyes today was announced as the new Everton manager replacing Sean Dyche, who was sacked only hours prior to the Toffees match against Peterborough in the third round of the FA Cup.

A last-minute interim was organised for the fixture, with Everton legends Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman leading the squad into the hat for the next round with a 2-0 victory, with goals from Beto and Iliman Ndiaye concluding a satisfactory win.

New owners, The Friedkin Group, needed to make a statement managerial signing to lead the Toffees into the new ground, Bramley Moore Dock, with a period of stability extremely necessary due to the club's current circumstances.

Sean Dyche was brought in by ex-owner Farhad Moshiri as a successor to Frank Lampard to hopefully be Everton's saviour during desperate measures. A tough job was in the hands of the ex-Burnley boss at the time, but luckily Dyche managed to battle through it all. Guiding Everton through multiple point deductions due to FFP regulations, out of the gaffer's hands, and saving the Blues on the final day of the 22/23 season in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth. Even though in the grand scheme of things it seems Sean Dyche has completely rescued Everton, it has certainly been a rollercoaster of a journey. Throughout the 84 games Dyche and his backroom staff have managed during the two years they were here, an average of 1.2 points per game was achieved, winning only 26 games throughout.

As of late, in the last eleven games Sean Dyche was in charge, Everton achieved only one victory. Some might say it was a bad fixture list, but to put it simply, that isn't up to Premier League standard. Many reports suggest Dyche resigned; some outlets indicated a sacking, but the more reliable sources say the 53-year-old had said he had taken Everton the furthest he could during the time he was in control. This led to the decision by the owners to sack the manager.

Within the club statement revealing that Dyche had left the club, they revealed the search has already begun for a new manager.

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Everton Club Statement:

Everton Football Club is delighted to welcome back David Moyes as their new Manager, effective immediately.

David is widely recognised as one of the Premier League’s most experienced and accomplished managers, having led Everton for more than 500 matches from 2002 to 2013.

As a driving force behind taking Everton to the 2009 FA Cup Final and four European campaigns, he has also managed Manchester United and West Ham United, where he notably won the UEFA Europa Conference League.

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The main candidate up for the job was David Moyes, and only a couple of days later, the Scotsman was announced as the replacement to Dyche. Moyes has had a huge spell with Everton prior. In March 2002, Moyes joined Everton as the threat of relegation lingered. Fortunately, the Toffees stayed in the Premier League, then proceeded to manage the team for over 500 matches, also getting the club into the 2009 FA Cup Final and getting the squad into Champions League qualifications.

During this time, the preferred tactical approach was a 4-4-1-1, building around a solid defensive structure, with Lescott and Jagielke at centerbacks, allowing forward creative players such as Pienaar, Osman, and Arteta to roam around the final third. The pacey characteristics of these playmakers allowed the Toffees to spark a frequent amount of counterattacks, something David Moyes has implemented into numerous teams during his managerial career. So much so, during his time at West Ham, in the 23/24 Premier League season, they were the most fast and direct attacking team in the league, getting the ball up the pitch at an average speed of 2.3 mps, the median out of all the teams being 1.3 mps. The hard-working attitude revolved around Everton, and the fan's expectation to retain a massive work ethic and drive may play an even bigger role in how Everton sets up under Moyes.

During his period at West Ham, Moyes won the European Conference League in 2023, winning 2-1 over Fiorentina in the final in Prague, and also got the Hammers to the Europa League semi-final the season later, narrowly losing to Frankfurt on aggregate.

Now Moyes has been confirmed; Everton is now currently in the process of the appointing other backroom staff, including Moyes' assistants.

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David Moyes Statement:

"It’s great to be back! I enjoyed 11 wonderful and successful years at Everton and didn’t hesitate when I was offered the opportunity to rejoin this great club."

“I’m excited to be working with The Friedkin Group and I am looking forward to helping them rebuild the club."

“Now we need Goodison and all Evertonians to play their part in getting behind the players in this important season so we can move into our fabulous new stadium as a Premier League team.”

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