Resilience | OneFootball

If there was one word to describe Everton’s season, then “resilience” would fit the bill.

Indeed, if there was one word to sum up David Moyes’ Everton sides — plural, that is, given the amount of time his two stints at the club have spanned — then “resilient” would be it.

It would be unfair to just paint Moyes’ Everton as only being a backs-to-the-wall, solid team. As they have proved at times this season, they can definitely play. Dominant displays against Nottingham Forest (home and away), Fulham, Burnley and, most recently, Chelsea, spring to mind immediately.

But Everton are never a club that does things the easy way, and resilience is something they have to show — whether they are clinging on for dear life in a relegation battle, or pushing for European football. Hopefully, one day soon, that same resilience will lead them to a trophy, ending the ludicrous, near 31-year drought.

Last Saturday, Everton’s resilience was on show once again in an away game that seemed to have escaped the Toffees.

Brentford were by no means a level above Everton at the Gtech Community Stadium. Sure, they had created some decent chances, but so had Moyes’ men. Yet when Igor Thiago diverted home Michael Kayode’s shot inadvertently, it felt as though Lady Luck had turned her back on the Toffees.

Yet at its core, this Everton team is now full of players who do not know when to give up — a character that Moyes has helped instil in them. It was there in a different guise under Sean Dyche, when he kept Everton in the Premier League on the final day of the 2022-23 campaign, and then successfully navigated two points deductions in the following season.

However, Dyche’s Everton really were lacking much quality to their play. Some of that was down to personnel, of course, and the financial constraints the club were working under.

But this version of Everton, even if Moyes is relying largely on the same group of core players that were at Dyche’s disposal, has a touch of class to it, and it is that quality that has come to the fore to propel Everton into the European picture.

In west London, as the rain began teeming down in torrential fashion with the game edging into stoppage time, it was that touch of class that made all the difference.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall — the prime example of why ready-made Premier League players are so highly valued by managers of Moyes’ ilk — had squandered a golden chance when the scores were locked at 1-1.

The former Chelsea man has been so reliable in the big moments this term, it was a shock to see him hesitate when through on goal, turning back onto himself and not trusting his weaker right foot.

But one of the great things about Dewsbury-Hall is his knack of knowing where to be: Right place, right time. And with this Everton team, especially on the road, it always feels as though there will be another chance, another moment to right a wrong.

That moment came Dewsbury-Hall’s way, and he pounced on it in style. Not enough credit has been given to just how good his first-time finish, from a tight angle and through a crowd of Brentford defenders, was.

And as Dewsbury-Hall wheeled away in celebration, and Everton subsequently held firm for a hard-earned point that keeps them on level pegging with Brentford and just a point behind out-of-form Chelsea, that word sprang to mind again: “Resilience”.

It’s the kind of resilience that saw Everton go three months unbeaten on the road, with the defeats at either end of that run coming at Stamford Bridge and the Emirates. It is the kind of resilience that saw Everton beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford, despite playing 80 minutes with 10 men. And it’s the kind of resilience that Everton are going to need if they are to get themselves over the line in the most congested fight for European qualification in recent memory.

Avoiding defeat at Brentford was vital, and though the pressure is on from teams below them, Everton kept the momentum going, by hook or by crook. The challenge is now to keep it going for another six games.

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Reader Comments (9)

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Agree about the resilience, Patric. My hope is that it is retained but also some of the younger players can progress and bring in speed to our play. My hope is that is Moyes's longer term plan. An interesting test of both our resilience and speed will be on Sunday.

I hope our resilience is there when Van Dijk manages to secure the RS their inevitable penalty but equally some speed leaves the same defender left behind as we take the lead in extra time!

Been a long time since I have felt a spark of optimism and hope Moyes stays another season to continue to build good foundations. My worry is owners are tempted by a younger manager making headlines and the whole re-education of the squad has to begin again and my spark of optimism is extinguished.

We have the making of a great team. There are few changes required from what we have... For example:

Change 1> New 1st class right-back plus back-upChange 2> Use Tarkowski as a bench player and have O'Brien and Branthwaite as centre-backs Change 3> With Aznou as left-back and Mykolenko as back-upSelection of midfield mix of Garner, Gana, Dewsbury-Hall, Armstrong, Iroegbunam (maybe Grealish in the mix)And Change 4> Sell Barry and have the attack options of Ndiaye, Beto, a new main striker, Dibling and George

This would be a fab squad.

Neil Lawson 4 Posted 14/04/2026 at 13:24:22

COYR

"C'mon you Resilients". Not quite the same ring as the original but I don't think that you will hear it anywhere else.

The article and comments are relevant and appropriate but it would be a poor professional team in any sport that does not show resilience throughout their side and in their performances.

Credit to Moyes for demanding it as a core principle.

Bill Hawker 5 Posted 14/04/2026 at 14:47:07

Bob #3

Agreed with all of those. Would like to see Gana with a bit less game time if only to keep him fresh as he's no spring chicken anymore. He would be a solid player to bring off the bench when defending a lead with 20 minutes to go.

That means we need someone like Tim Iroegbunam to step up in the midfield cleanup role.

Laurie Hartley 7 Posted 15/04/2026 at 01:48:54

Yes, Patric, this squad has something about them alright. In fact Everton Football Club as a whole is something special.

No other club could have gone through what we have over the last 5 years and retained its Premier League status. We should be very proud of that.

We are the “Indomitables”. On Sunday, we accomodate the “Horribles” in our glorious new stadium, singing “We …………!!!

Ian Bennett 8 Posted 15/04/2026 at 08:10:30

Even if Moyes is relying largely on the same group of core players that were at Dyche's disposal, has a touch of class to it, and it is that quality that has come to the fore to propel Everton into the European picture.

No team will fancy playing Everton these days. They know that they'll be playing a well organised, never say die team that has some quality.

Not to so long ago, we were beaten as soon as we conceded. We now look like a team that can score first and win. Or concede first, and can still take something from the game.

More quality is needed for certain. But like the improved financial performance, it is still early days.

Derek Thomas 9 Posted 15/04/2026 at 08:19:49

The next step after Resilience is - Intensity!. The Red Shite had it going back to Rogers. They seem to have neither right now.

We step it up — and they'll step down.

Bill @ 5; "defending a lead with 20 minutes to go." Sorry, mate, but No!

You don't change what was working for 70 minutes… you do that and you're conceding the initiative.

You keep on doing — as far as you can, dire circumstances etc excepted — what they couldn’t cope with.

Keep up the Intensity!

(Did I mention Intensity?)