Might Moyes deserve some slack?

(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

It’d be fair to say David Moyes finished last season as something like public enemy number 1 among Evertonians.

Not every Evertonian, of course, but a fair chunk of the fanbase seemed ready for a change.

The run-in was dismal and Everton — Moyes, his players and those at the top of the club — all played their part in squandering a fantastic chance to get the club back into Europe.

It might have been ahead of schedule, but development and progress in football is never linear. You can’t just rely on a pre-defined plan; things don’t always happen when you expect them to, and you have to be ready to pounce on an opportunity when it comes your way.

I’m on record as writing that, if the right manager was available at the end of last season, then I’d have been open to a change.

But Everton elected to stay with Moyes, and while there is still some understandable frustration with the Scot, there is no evidence to suggest the club are willing to make a change just yet.

There is also nothing to say that Moyes is seen as Everton’s long-term manager. Indeed, Angus Kinnear had the chance to say something along those lines in his interviews last week, but he strayed clear of committing.

However, I do get the sense that right now, Moyes can’t do right for wrong with some among the fanbase.

Even after Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace, frustration and ire was directed at Moyes for his post-match comments.

Moyes is a cautious, pragmatic manager. Maybe he’s overly cautious and overly pragmatic, and that can come across as negative.

But it is that cautious nature and pragmatism that has seen him manage 20+ seasons in the Premier League. There is a reason only two managers — Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson — have overseen more matches in the competition than Moyes.

Now that pragmatic nature is probably also what, in part, has held Moyes’ teams back, but that doesn’t mean that everything he says has to be looked at through that lens, either.

The comments that seemed to draw particular frustration centred around Harrison Armstrong, who had an excellent game in the heart of Everton’s midfield.

Armstrong was not perfect, and neither was Hayden Hackney, on his Premier League debut, but they dovetailed together nicely and seemed to improve as the game wore on.

Moyes suggested that Armstrong would not perhaps have been playing as much if Everton had a full complement of midfielders available, with James Garner only fit enough for the bench and Christian Nørgaard and Tim Iroegbunam out injured.

However, Moyes was at pains to say, in all of his TV interviews and his post-match press conference, that Armstrong is impressing hugely and currently holds his place on merit.

Yet that, apparently, was too negative. Moyes shouldn’t say anything about Everton’s injuries; instead it should just be blind praise of the teenager.

In no way was Moyes critical of Armstrong, though. What he said was absolutely correct, because in no world is Armstrong, on paper, Everton’s first-choice midfielder if the squad is fully fit and available.

But they aren’t, and over the course of pre-season Armstrong has proved he is a capable player and an exceptional talent and, on Saturday, he showed he can more than hold his own in the Premier League.

That’s fantastic, but it doesn’t mean Armstrong will go through the whole season as first choice. He will have ups and downs, he may sustain an injury or gets suspended. He is 19. He is still learning, and while it is vital that young players do get minutes to develop, I do struggle with this expectation among modern fans that youngsters also have a right to play every single minute they possibly can.

Moyes will always be more cautious than some more progressive or younger coaches. I don’t think you can argue with that. But it doesn’t mean everything he says or does is wrong, or that he’s a dinosaur for suggesting Armstrong may not necessarily have been first choice if Garner — Everton’s Player of the Season last year — or Nørgaard — a reigning Premier League champion — had been available.

That doesn’t mean Moyes doesn’t rate Armstrong, because it’s very clear over the last eight months that he does, and it doesn’t mean Armstrong won’t play, because he will.

The balance has to be right with how Moyes handles Everton’s younger players and it’d be fair to say that he hasn’t always struck that balance. 

I don’t think that’s the case with Armstrong, though. He has been handled well and we are reaping the rewards of that. There’s still a long way to go.

But while we can all get frustrated with Moyes, and I’ll stress again, it’s absolutely fair for him to be criticised, he doesn’t have to be criticised for every single thing, especially when he is just talking sense.

So maybe in this regard, we might all cut Moyes a bit of slack.

Read more - What we learned: Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace

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