The difficulty with David… | OneFootball

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

David Moyes: Now 63 years of age, and with 750 Premier League games as a manager to his name. Only Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have taken charge of more matches in the competition.

Moyes has won 290 of those matches (38.7%) losing 263, and overseeing 197 draws. Of his 750 games, 480 have come in charge of Everton, across two spells.

All this is to say, Moyes knows a thing or two about football management.

Moyes also has a long track record to point to — his Everton team in his first stint regularly punched above its weight. He turned West Ham into a team regularly competing to qualify in Europe, and even going on to win a European trophy.

And one thing is clear: Moyes will not change.

He has many qualities, but he can also be very frustrating, mainly due to his pragmatism, his overly cautious nature when it comes to the key moments. Rightly or wrongly, he is often judged as coming up short when it matters.

That’s not often fair. You don’t succeed in qualifying for Europe on multiple instances if it is the case. But, then again, Moyes has won only one trophy in his career, and perhaps had he just been more willing to take the handbrake off every now and then, that would be different.

That pragmatism — the kind of pragmatism that has seen Everton accumulate 47 points this season, one short of last season’s tally with four games to spare — can also be his downfall.

On Saturday, Moyes seemed to set up not to lose against West Ham. Dwight McNeil on the right, Michael Keane in at the back to replace Jarrad Branthwaite. Neither of those things should have come as a surprise, but the flatness and lethargy to much of Everton’s display belied a team that needed freshening up.

And the part of Moyes that struggles to live up to his own lofty standards he demands came back to bite him, and bite Everton.

Everton were not exactly fortunate to go into half-time at 0-0, but the lack of urgency or tempo to their display should have been the wake-up call needed for Moyes to change things.

Instead, he stuck to his plan, despite Jake O’Brien having yet again been given the run-around by Crysencio Summerville, despite McNeil offering so little support defensively, and despite another lacklustre display from Thierno Barry. Indeed, even Iliman Ndiaye, so often Everton’s spark, failed to deliver.

James Garner was leggy. Idrissa Gueye was not able to disrupt the play, and West Ham got on top. Once again, Everton’s deficiencies defending corners delivered into the 6-yard box were exposed, as the pressure finally told.

By the time Moyes turned to his bench — earlier this time, than usual, but it was because he needed to — Everton were chasing a game they should have gone into with full confidence and a thirst to win.

Then again, Everton did get back into it. They did draw themselves level, so for experienced players like Vitaliy Mykolenko and Michael Keane to then lose Jarrod Bowen to a deep cross, and for Callum Wilson to be given the freedom of the penalty area to tap home — well, that responsibility can not all sit at Moyes’s feet.

Moyes is not wrong when he says Everton deserved more out of the last two games. By all rights, the Merseyside derby should have finished level, and so should this West Ham match. Those 2 points would have kept Everton in prime position to push on for European qualification.

But football doesn’t work like that. Ultimately, Everton lost, and Moyes’s pragmatic approach will be called into question.

All of this has to be taken into perspective. This is a mid-table squad, with some talented players, but in a season in which being a mid-table team, with a bit of stability, comes with opportunity.

Everton are only 3 points off 6th, but they have let chances pass them by, and while it is not time to give up hope, it does feel as though this was their big chance to keep themselves well and truly in the race.

Moyes won’t change, but really, does he now have any other option than to be more attacking?

Manchester City are up next, but they are just one of four opponents remaining, and there is no need for Everton to fear.

It is time for Moyes to stop being fearful, too.

//

Reader Comments (9)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()

Andrew Clare 1 Posted 27/04/2026 at 12:01:19

I was going to write a long piece about this, that and the other but quite frankly it all boils down to one thing at a football club which is whether you have the right manager.

If you are happy just to be in the top flight, you hire a manager to suit. If you want to challenge for trophies, the same applies.

I know what I want and it can happen. I just hope our owners feel the same way.

I would love Moyes to succeed in his second spell and it even looked like he'd changed his ways for a time....

But no, the old Davy has emerged and, with 2 trade mark defeats, we know he won't change it for the Man City game and it will be 3 defeats on the bounce.

He's just not going to take us any further so we have to decide are we happy treading water or do we want success. If it's the latter, then Davy has to go.

Mark Ryan 4 Posted 27/04/2026 at 13:12:18

I was reading the transfer Gossip on Sky's Football page and had to laugh when it read Man City interested in Elliot Anderson and Everton are interested in John McGinn, aged 31.

It's about where we are as a club because that is a Moyes signing all day long, sadly. I'd have taken McGinn 5 seasons ago. Moyes would take him now.

John Collins 5 Posted 27/04/2026 at 13:15:31

McGinn, Soucec etc.

These types will be the target for next season.

Andrew Merrick 6 Posted 27/04/2026 at 13:44:50

I saw the transfer gossip, and thought the same, typical Moyes.

On the other site Christine drew attention to some Gossip about Moyes contract situation stalling, interesting gossip though...

1 Andrew

Think it's unfair to say Moyes falls into the category of 'just staying in the Premier League'

By that logic, most of the managers in the PL atm are just that. Everton are 3 points back from a Brighton side that in the last two summer windows has spent around £400m.

Everton's squad needed huge investment and an overhaul last season. £110m spend (with some further money to be spent on Rohl) is hardly enough to turn that into a team that SHOULD be qualifying for Europe.

Moyes is frustrating, but he has also raised standards. From what I can tell, the club made their goal clear in January - they were not willing to spend big in order to try and get Europe.

Moyes and the team can have different goals to the club as a whole, as long as they fit into the wider structure and ambition, that's fine. Clearly, it is a Moyes/team goal to make Europe, but the wider club goal this season was progress.

This time last year, Everton had 38 points. They won 3 and drew 1 of their last 4 games.

If they could somehow repeat that trick (not saying it's likely) this time around, I'm sure many fans would be very happy.

But we must also take a step back. We don't have to say Moyes has done an incredible job this season (he hasn't), but the team and the club has progressed on and off the pitch. He can be frustrating, but his tactics have ensured Everton have moved forward in their goals this season.

No need to be handing him a new deal, but also the foundations need to be in place too and this squad still needs a lot of work. And I don't think that should be purchasing more Tyler Diblings or Adam Aznous just yet - I apply that for any manager that is here, not just Moyes.

Derek Thomas 8 Posted 27/04/2026 at 13:50:45

Patric;

Q) "Moyes won’t change, but really, does he now have any other option than to be more attacking?"

A) Yes; his main first option is always - how can we best not lose