David Moyes on Everton's Season: Squad Challenges and Expectations

David Moyes cuts a familiar figure right now: pragmatic, quietly frustrated, and still searching for a way to stretch a thin squad through a long Premier League season.

The Everton manager admitted the club badly misjudged the recovery time of one of their key signings, who is yet to train fully since arriving.

“I don't think we expected his recovery to take this long when we signed him,” Moyes said. “We are looking forward to gaining his experience, but we haven't even had him on the grass yet. It is disappointing – for us and for him – but hopefully it won't be too long.”

That sense of irritation is tempered by something else: anticipation. Because while one signing remains stuck in rehab, another headline name is edging towards centre stage.

Grealish on the brink

Jack Grealish has barely featured since January, but Moyes made it clear the playmaker is pushing hard for a first start of the season this weekend.

He described Grealish as “a boy who needs football matches more than he needs training”, a player whose sharpness comes from the cut and thrust of competition rather than hours on the training pitch.

“It will be incredibly exciting to have him in our starting line-up,” Moyes said. “If he gives us what he gave us at the start of last season, we will be thrilled.”

Everton’s unbeaten run has provided a platform, if not quite the surge up the table Moyes craves. The numbers look tidy enough; the feeling inside Finch Farm is more nuanced.

Unbeaten, but not satisfied

Everton have yet to taste defeat in the league, and Moyes acknowledged that the foundation is solid.

The start is “pleasing in some aspects”, he said, but that doesn’t mean he is satisfied. Draws have dulled the edge of that unbeaten tag.

He admitted he “would have liked to get another win rather than a draw somewhere along the way”, even as he praised his squad for doing “a really good job”.

The message is clear: standards have risen. Staying unbeaten is not the ambition; turning those tight games into victories is.

Small squad, big togetherness

If Everton look cohesive, part of that comes from necessity. Moyes is working with a lean group, and he sees a direct line between the size of his squad and the spirit inside it.

“You only have to look at Leicester City's title-winning squad to see how their small group of players thrived,” he said, pointing to that famous example of a tight-knit core driving a remarkable season.

He knows the trade-off. Fewer players can mean stronger bonds, but the fixture list rarely shows mercy.

“It's the amount of games which means you need the extra players, but we don't have European football this year so maybe we can find a way of getting through with what we've got.”

That is the optimist in him. The realist quickly follows.

Given the choice, Moyes would not be operating with such a stripped-back group. He was blunt about the numbers: his ideal would have been “21 outfield players”. Right now, he has 18.

That gap explains the next part of Everton’s strategy.

Hunting in the free-agent market

Everton are scouring the free-agent market for reinforcements. There is no pretence about how difficult that task is at Premier League level.

Moyes confirmed the club are exploring options, but he did not dress it up.

“It isn't easy to find a player who could make a difference” at this stage, he admitted. The right profile, the right fitness levels, the right mentality – the pool is small, the stakes are high.

Still, the search continues. With injuries already nibbling at his plans and an international break looming, Moyes knows one more reliable body could prove crucial when the season starts to bite.

Tottenham test and familiar struggles

Next up come Tottenham, still searching for their first league goal and win. On paper, it looks like an opportunity. Moyes knows better than to fall for that.

“It wasn't too long ago that we were in those situations as a club,” he said, drawing a line between Everton’s recent past and Spurs’ current malaise.

“We know we can only look after ourselves. We didn't quite make it over the line there a couple of months ago, so hopefully we do it this time.”

There is a quiet edge to that. Everton remember what slipped away in north London not so long ago. This feels like a chance to correct it.

International break headache

Beyond Tottenham lies the two-week international break – a period managers endure more than enjoy.

Moyes called it “difficult for everybody to manage”, and the reasons are obvious. Some players will be overloaded, others barely used, and clubs have almost no control.

“There will be a lot of players who will end up playing a lot more minutes than others and injuries could be a problem as well,” he said.

Everton’s position is delicate. With a small squad, they cannot afford a wave of knocks. Yet they also need their players to stay sharp.

“We've got to hope that our boys do play a bit, but maybe not all of the games.”

That is the balance Moyes is trying to strike across the board: keeping a threadbare squad competitive, squeezing every drop from his stars, and hoping the next two weeks don’t undo the careful work of the last two months.