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Six takeaways from David Moyes’ first press conference at Everton

Rachel016 mins


David Moyes has admitted the offer to return to Everton after nearly eight months out of football was a complete surprise.

The 61-year-old was appointed on Saturday morning, less than 48 hours after the relegation-threatened club announced the end of Sean Dyche’s two-year reign.

In a candid first press conference a day after meeting his squad, Moyes revealed the timetable for negotiations, how he overcame his nerves and what he has already told striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Here are six key issues discussed by Moyes as he prepares for his home opener against an Aston Villa side 15 points above Everton in the table on Wednesday (7.30pm GMT).

Moyes to Everton: The Friedkin Group acted quickly

The Friedkin Group completed their long-awaited deal to take over Everton on 19 December, putting chairman and chief executive Dan Friedkin and the club’s new executive chairman Marc Watts in a position to make major decisions.

One of the first of these was to sack Dyches, who previously said Watts had shown him “nothing but support” during a “casual” meeting at the club’s Finch Farm training ground shortly after taking over.

“It was very quick,” Moyes said of the initial contact with Everton, adding that he first heard of it on “Tuesday or Wednesday”.

“They called me to say there is a possibility of a change. I had several conversations with Dan and Marc, and it really took off from there.

“Up until that point, I had no idea. I thought Sean did a really good job and I didn’t see any changes being made at the time.

“They’re in America and I’m here, so the conversations were mostly via video calls. I had some Americans (on Monday).”

Everton ‘a different beast’ – and Moyes had previous talks

After the awarding of the OBE in the New Year’s Honours, Moyes said he was open to a return to football but I wouldn’t “want to be at the bottom for relegation”.

“Actually, I wasn’t necessarily looking to come back,” said the man who made his name during 11 years at the club, leading them to eight top-seven finishes – including fourth in 2004/05 – alongside four European campaigns and the 2008/09 FA Cup final.

“As everyone knows, this is a different beast for me than a lot of other clubs. Everton is different. I’ve had plenty of other opportunities to consider other jobs since I left West Ham (in May).

“I really didn’t expect the job to come up – I didn’t see it coming. But when they asked me, it was too big an opportunity to turn down.”

After first leaving Everton, Moyes briefly succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in an ill-fated spell at Manchester United in 2013/14, eventually building his reputation after two spells with the Hammers between 2017 and 2024.

Everton have finished no lower than 12th and finished in the top ten five times in their first eight seasons since Moyes’ departure, but have narrowly avoided relegation in each of the last two campaigns, with a total of eight points deducted for the economic rules in the last era.

“I’ve come very close to coming back on three or four occasions,” Moyes revealed, pointing out that his second spell at West Ham brought them their first European trophy since 1965 in the form of the 2022-23 Conference League.

“I’ve had conversations at different times and different times in my career. This is football and I have no problem with it.”

Moyes feels ‘tremendous pressure’

With 19 league games, Everton have three wins and sit one point above the relegation zone with a game in hand on the teams below them.

Only Southampton have fewer wins and the Saints are also the only top-flight side with a worse tally than Everton’s 15 goals, five fewer than next-time top scorers Ipswich Town.

“For a couple of weeks, I didn’t think there was any chance Everton were in a relegation race,” Moyes said. “I thought they would be strong enough to come out of it.

“I’ve got into the seat now and I’m going to back myself on it, saying we’re going to be strong enough to stay away from it. We need the players to play better and score more goals if we want to do that.

“I will try to stabilize, take the club in a different direction and make it better. I see it as a huge pressure.

I can only remember that we always felt like a team that was always challenging the top teams and trying to be in Europe.

“I did it quite quickly here and at West Ham, so my idea is to try to do everything as quickly as I can, because I’m not going to be here for 11 years, like before.”

Moyes said he felt “really nervous” returning to Finch Farm. “I hadn’t been back since the day I left,” he reflected, although the memory of some of the high-profile names that awaited him when he took over in 2002, as a 38-year-old, gave him some reassuring context.

“The first day when I came in I had to go into a dressing room with David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Duncan Ferguson and Tommy Gravesen. Being a very young coach, I said “hey, they won’t even know who I am”.

Everton transfers: ‘Elite’ signings and contract talks

Former England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure and captain Seamus Coleman are among the players out of contract at the end of this season.

Moyes will also be able to assess some of Dyche’s summer signings, including Tim Irogbunam, Illiman Diaye, Jake O’Brien and loan players such as Orel Mangala and Jack Harrison, as he plans for survival and a stronger campaign in Everton’s first. season in their new 52,888 capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

“The stadium looks like a business, it looks elite,” he said. “We need to start getting some top players and start looking at the level of players (so) we can give everyone something to shout about in the new stadium.

“I have to impress the players and tell them we need them to come. There are 11 players out of contract and that is something we have to (deal with).

“I need a lot of these players to show that they are ready to help us and not think about other things. There is an opportunity for freshness.”

What Moyes told Calvert-Lewin

Calvert-Lewin He scored for Everton in 2019/20 and 2020/21, but the injury-hit 27-year-old scored as many goals in the latter of those seasons as he has in the four spells since, including just two so far in 2024. /25.

Despite featuring in every league game and starting 16 times, Calvert-Lewin has gone 15 games without a goal, although a run of four goals in five games in April and May showed the 2020/21 player of the season still has the ability to produce.

“We all feel he can be the one who can make the big difference,” Moyes said. “If he gets his goals back it will be a big help for Everton and the manager as well.

“We will give him as much confidence and help as we can, but then the player needs to stand up and do his job. I’ve told him I need goals from him straight away and he needs to start executing.”

Moyes backs owners – but remains ‘concerned’

Friedkins’ takeover of Everton put 10 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs in American hands and Moyes also pointed out that American investors are increasingly involved in English Football League clubs.

The Scot seemed optimistic about working under the club, which also owns Italian giants Roma, where they have not been afraid to sack big names such as Jose Mourinho and Daniele De Rossi.

When he left Serie A in January 2023, Mourinho – is briefly associated with the vacancy left by Dyche – said Dan Friedkin “he doesn’t understand football”.

“Dan and Mark were very good,” Moyes remarked of his conversations with the pair. “Many Evertonians must be delighted. They seem to be going in the right direction.

“You can never tell what managers are going to do and managers can’t tell what owners are going to do. I found the talks good – they want to get us back on track and we need a bit of a plaster, right now.

“Who doesn’t worry about their owners? All managers are. We have a huge influx of American owners into the Premier League, so we have to work out their culture and what they expect.”



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