So, Moyes has something to prove in Manchester. And I wish him all success with his new tenure. But how is Everton going to shape up after the Moyes Era?
To be frank, I’m neither a Moyes apologist nor a hater. But the fact is this man had provided me with more positive results and memorable moments than any of the previous managers (with the exception of Joe Royle) since 1989 and this alone tips the scales for me to admit that I’m indeed sad to see him go. I promised myself that I would not contribute any article to ToffeeWeb this season, purely on the basis that I have not watched a single Everton game or followed the Blues progress in the league for the very first time since 1989. But it was a double whammy today, on hearing that Everton did not qualify for Europe as well as Moyes’s imminent move to Man United.
I’m sure all of us are aware that no individual is greater than the club, be it a manager, a player or a fan like me. But after reading an article which quoted that Moyes has become the face of Everton, I realized that, during these 11 years, he has indeed became an integral part of Everton, following the footsteps of Alex Ferguson for Man United and Arsene Wenger for Arsenal. Which would not make the task any easier for the new manager to emulate Moyes’s fiery presence in the dugout.
Thankfully, the situation is very much different from the time Moyes took over in 2002. We have a stronger team with consistent finishes in the top-half of the league. But unfortunately, Moyes had failed to produce a ’finished article’, a team blended with quality that would be challenging the Manchester clubs, Chelsea or Arsenal for major honours on a regular basis.
I’m not saying that the current crop are not quality. On their day, they are a match to any of the top four teams. But what I’m emphasizing is that, during his tenure, Moyes was unable to complete his team. When Rooney burst onto the scene, I believed that Moyes was focusing on building a team around Rooney. When Cahill became an integral part of a 4-5-1 formation, I believe Moyes was building a team that catered to that sort of playing style. When Arteta became the chief architect in central midfield, I believe Moyes was trying to mould a midfield around Arteta. Sadly, we do not have Rooney, Cahill or Arteta with us. And now we do not have Moyes as well.
So, it’s going to be an equally tough job for the new manager. If he could retain the core members of the current team then I guess it’s worth the risk on experimenting with new formations. I’m least bothered about new faces that the new manager might want to bring in to the team, since we have all heard it before; Lack of funds! But if the new manager could gel and utilize the current players and get a few raw diamonds from the academy to shine, this could be the strong foundation to the next or dare I say, a better legacy.
Most people are saying that Moyes has done his best; now, the incoming manager’s task is to propel Everton to the next level. Which means it has to be a top 4 finish next season. With all respect to Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, I will not impose such demands on a new manager during his debut season. He is inheriting Everton – not Barcelona. I’d rather have a topsy-turvy season, in which the manager is able to grasp the nuances of the most effective playing style his team is capable of producing and unleashing it to conquer a domestic treble the following season.
Maybe some of you might not agree with my perception. But I hope that the next manager turns out to be another Moyes of 2002 and not Alex Mcleish of 2013 for Nottingham Forest. Just like how Moyes slowly built his empire; this new manager should be be given space and time to mould a formidable unit. And maybe, just maybe, this manager might have that elusive lady luck that seemed to be so shy with Moyes and grant those required funds to strengthen the team.
As for success, I’d be satisfied as long as they remain consistent with a top-six finish, given that it’s a debut season for the manager. But as I mentioned earlier, the coming season should serve primarily as a launch pad session for Everton to be amalgamated as a title contender. On this note, I would like to add that not all managers tasted success during their first spell with a club, even if it’s a star-studded team. Just ask Carlos Quieroz and Claudio Ranieri.
Reader Comments (13)
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2 Posted 18/05/2013 at 08:48:00
On a completely different tangent, I've read the arguments for and against Martinez, and it's very difficult to decide whether he's under- or overachieved at Wigan. Can one of the ToffeeWeb stat experts provide 8 tables of all 20 clubs' wage bills, for each of the 8 seasons Wigan have been in the Premier League. It would be interesting to see whether the wage bill has decreased since Martinez took over (in relation to the rest of the teams in the Prem), which would explain why they haven't done as well in the league since his arrival. Obviously, if Wigan's wage bill has increased (in comparison to the teams around them), it'd prove that Martinez deserves to manage a Championship club!
3 Posted 18/05/2013 at 09:14:32
4 Posted 18/05/2013 at 09:18:26
5 Posted 18/05/2013 at 10:23:50
IMHO wage bills of clubs have never been accurately reflected, especially to fans. In a bizarre scenario, if the fans were presented with a detailed wage bill structure of Everton, I guess many in ToffeeWeb would not be hurling brickbats at Kenwright. But that's not going to happen.
Anyway, I've never been hugely impressed with Martinez. I'm sure we all know that he did wonders with Swansea. But sadly, the impact and mastery of attacking football he developed with Swansea was largely missing when he was managing Wigan.
Kunal,
It's interesting when you quoted 'reactive'. I believe you are referring to his late substitutions, when the chips are down. The difference here is Manchester United Kunal. They have more depth and more competition for starting places. Which is why I would slightly disagree with Gavin about Moyes' decision on starting lineups to a certain extend. It's true that Moyes dropped players who had a bad game. The spat between Moyes and Rooney was legendary. And Yakubu rebounced with full vigour after he was dropped to the bench for consecutive matches by Moyes.
But how many times did Moyes had this luxury of dropping players due to poor form? Only when he had a full strength team, which is sporadical. And how many times have we heard about the term 'Moyes loyalists here'? For god sake, he couldn't be enforcing squad rotation with a threadbare team.
7 Posted 18/05/2013 at 15:29:50
8 Posted 18/05/2013 at 15:31:55
9 Posted 18/05/2013 at 15:28:35
Basically, 20 of our 27 first teamers represent their country in some fashion. That doesn't happen by virtue of being a crap footballer. Shane Duffy hadn't started a game in 2 years. He's the captain of Ireland's U21s. Meanwhile Heitinga was personally shipping half our goals against tally for a month with no repercussions.
Oviedo has played Champions League football and is the second best senior player on the Costa Rican national team behind Bryan Ruiz. But he can't get a game behind the great Steven Naismith, playing out wide out of position like so many other strikers Moyes had no clue how to use.
Tomorrow, when we play Chelsea, Ross Barkley will once again have us all wondering why he has only started 2 games all season after we witness his talent that dwarfs Leon Osman's more and more with each passing appearance.
Every season, Moyes uses less players than ANY manager in the Premier League. Every season, like clockwork. So does that mean that our supposedly high quality academy continually spits out worse players than ALL of the clubs above and below us? Ridiculous notion. Otherwise we wouldn't be recognized as a top academy program.
Giving him more depth at Manchester United is irrelevant if he can't even identify strengths off the bench on a smaller team. More choices are only going to make matters worse from him. His rotation policy is a joke and competing on four fronts only puts more pressure on that aspect of your management.
10 Posted 19/05/2013 at 03:05:29
11 Posted 19/05/2013 at 06:44:52
We have our fair share of sad stories. Per Kroldrup, Bilyaletdinov and Matteo Ferrari proved their credentials in Europe, yet failed to spark at Everton due to Moyes' inability to mould them. Young players like Jose Baxter, Kissock, Gosling and Ruddy became might-have-beens. But not all was doom and gloom. Moyes showcased great man-management by transforming a player deemed ineffective by Borussia Dortmund to one of the most creative source on the flanks: Pienaar. I for one, was delighted when Pienaar came to Everton as I've seen him play attractive football in the champions league with Ajax and was hoping he would prove a point to his detractors. He proved his quality and during the following seasons, formed one of the most lethal partnerships with Baines. So isn't this credited to Moyes as well?
And isn't Moyes responsible for galvanizing a fairly lethargic team to a 7th place finish in 2003, even winning the Manager of the Year Award in the same season? Should I say anything more about 2004/2005 season? Can I make a Before Moyes/After Moyes comparison check on players like Pistone, Radzinski and Gravesen, during their stint with Everton? Even if Lescott's preferred position was central defence, didn't he became Everton's highest goal scoring defender due to his switch to left-back?
But, as mentioned by Peter Jones, I admit that the most frustrating aspect during Moyes era was the lack of game time for the young lads. What should a promising youngster do to get a regular place in a Moyes team? And it would get more frustrating to hear that they are 'not ready' or 'takes time to compete at the highest level' or 'still in the developing stage' only to witness the lads leaving the club eventually. Rooney, Rodwell and Vaughn comes to my mind and hope Anichebe and Barkley could continue their allegiance with the Blues.
12 Posted 19/05/2013 at 12:25:21
13 Posted 19/05/2013 at 13:36:45
And where is Vaughn now?
Rooney and Rodwell are the only 2 youth we've had that have gone on to PL sides.
14 Posted 19/05/2013 at 22:08:00
People that continuously make the same mistakes in life just generally annoy me I suppose. Moyes is like an inventor that keeps making the same flawed prototype over and over because he refuses to accept another way of creating his attempted invention. He doesn't evolve. I just don't see him changing his rotation policy or his tolerance for small mistakes young players make at Man Utd. I think how he handles an exceptional talent like Wilfried Zaha will be telling of this in particular.
Eric — Is it possible that we don't produce many Premier League quality youngsters at Everton because they aren't given an opportunity to play consistently in the Premier League?
People moaned and moaned on here about how crap Seamus Coleman was in comparison to Tony Hibbert. Then he got consistent game time, improved dramatically over the course of the season, and became twice the full back Hibbert ever was. If Hibbert never got injured, who knows what Coleman's career may have looked like. It all starts with an opportunity.
I would never suggest that every youngster would work out like this, but until they play every once in awhile, we'll never know. That's called ignorance. Whoever the next manager is, I can only hope that he would exhaust all potential options before conceding that the squad is too small to challenge for any major honors. At least then, he would have tried to change our situation rather than complaining about funds.
Six Everton youngsters now represent England at the Under 20 level. One would hope the next manager actually uses them in the first team setup to get experience.
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1 Posted 18/05/2013 at 07:52:02
My expectations for the new manager is to start playing more threaded balls through to strikers as opposed to relying on width and to get best out of Jelavic and/or other strikers he brings in. I purposely refer to strikers as opposed to one.