David Moyes, how does he do it? How does his Everton team continue to impress year after year? How do Everton keep up with the competition when the cash-strapped club have to sit idle and watch while others strengthen?
Everton seem to have acquired the tag of notoriously slow starters in the Premier League. Last season, the Toffee’s lost just four of their last 18 Premier League games. Thus highlighting how capable they are on their day but how their slow start had derailed what could have been a fantastic season.
First, let’s dispel the myth that I alluded to in the first paragraph, the part about Everton not strengthening their squad while everybody else does. Everton do strengthen, they have to just like anybody else. But the signings that Everton make are more likely to fill a few column inches within the sports section rather than make headlines on the back page.
They don’t have the money to splash around on high profile signings. The 11 players that started the league opener against Man United on Monday night cost a combined total of £48.5million. When you compare this to the side United put out in the same game the contrast in fortune is there for all to see. £121million for United’s first 11 and a further £64million for the three subs they brought on.
Everton survive on shrewd signings like their influential captain Phil Neville for £3.5million and highly sought after left back Leighton Baines for £5million. Common sense would suggest that Everton shouldn’t be able to compete with a football giant like Man United. But Monday proved that they can more than just compete. United were bettered by Everton in every department and the 1-0 score line flattered last seasons runners-up.
Even the most casual football supporter can see that manager David Moyes deserves enormous credit for the success of Everton. Not just because he has been able to assemble a hugely talented squad on a shoe string budget, but also because as a coach he is consistently getting the best out of these players.
The third longest serving manager in the Premier League behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, Moyes as a player was solid but unremarkable. Starting at Celtic and taking in teams such as Bristol City, Shrewsbury Town and Dunfermline, Moyes would finally get to flex his management muscle at Preston North End where his success won him the Everton hot seat.
And as a manager Moyes has flourished, consistently steering Everton towards the top half of the table (and a 4th place finish once upon a time) when their budget suggests that they should be struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League. Whilst Moyes’ achievements should be applauded it’s also testament to what having a loyal chairmen behind you can do.
In a similar way to how Dave Whelan at Wigan has kept faith with Roberto Martinez and been rewarded with Premier League survival, Bill Kenwright of Everton has backed David Moyes as much as possible. Rare to see in this age of trigger-happy chairmen, it is a loyalty that has been reciprocated by Moyes.
With high profile jobs available this summer at Chelsea, Spurs and local rivals Liverpool, Moyes remains at the Everton helm. Only time will tell if he is treading water until he can replace Sir Alex at Man United, as has been reported in the past, but for now at least Moyes is still the man in charge at Goodison Park.
Everton’s fan base have also come out of the last few seasons with great credit. It can’t be easy supporting a team who don’t have a realistic chance of competing (financially, at least) with the very elite of English football. Especially when, more often than not, your neighbours are competing, winning trophies and playing in the Champions League. But the Evertonians have remained loyal to the end and maybe now are being giving a little more to shout about. They deserve it.
Last season marked the first time they have finished above city rivals Liverpool in the league since 2005, 7th to Liverpool’s 8th. Yet, unlike 2005 when Liverpool still had a Champions League triumph to hold aloft over their neighbours, last season Everton could claim dominance.
Sure, Liverpool had the comfort of winning the Carling Cup, but by all accounts they had had a disappointing season. Whereas Everton had finished strongly and could be extremely proud of the year they had. Combine this with the fact that Liverpool had the resources to spend £55million on a couple of strikers in January 2011, and Everton’s dominance becomes a little bit sweeter for the blue half of Merseyside.
Now, for once, Everton appear to be starting the season as they mean to go on. A fantastic result and just as importantly an extremely impressive performance against Man United, may mean that they won’t be waiting until January before trying to make up ground on the Premier League’s elite.
It’s only one game, no real reason for the Everton faithful to get carried away yet. But, they always tend to finish the season strongly. If they’re now starting it well too then who knows how far they could go.
There’s been a lot of talk this summer about who will claim the four lucrative Champions League spots that the Premier League has to offer, a huge amount of column inches and TV minutes has been filled with debate on the subject.
Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, Newcastle and Spurs all get a mention. But let’s not count Moyes’ Everton out just yet.