On Sunday, Bournemouth breezed to the type of victory away at Manchester United that Evertonians could only dream of.
Everton did, of course, beat Man Utd last season at Old Trafford, but it was a backs-against-the-wall, stoic display in the face of adversity, following Idrissa Gueye’s bizarre, early red card for slapping Michael Keane.
It was a brilliant display, don’t get me wrong, and a bit of a David Moyes masterclass as he finally claimed a win as an Everton manager at Old Trafford.
Yet that was Everton’s first win at Old Trafford since December 2013, when the Toffees — under Roberto Martinez — defeated Moyes’ Man Utd thanks to Bryan Oviedo’s memorable finish.
Bournemouth, on the other hand, are now seven top-flight games unbeaten against Man Utd. The Cherries have scored 18 Premier League goals in 10 games at Old Trafford.
It’s a great record, but what did Bournemouth do so well on Sunday?
Simply put, they focused on what they are good at.
“They [United] are in a difficult position, but we didn’t focus on that, we focused on putting a good performance in. We focused on ourselves coming into a massive fixture against a team with a lot of quality,” said Bournemouth defender James Hill.
“We’ve been really good recently and we’re pleased with our clean sheets recently. We were outstanding to a man. We have had lots of games recently, but we wouldn’t want it any other way, it’s been an incredible journey.
“It was an incredible performance from everybody and a good confidence builder for the team. I am absolutely delighted.
“We were unlucky at the start of the season. but things are starting to click under Marco [Rose] and we have momentum now. It was only a matter of time.”
Contrast that with Moyes’ approach in recent matches — not just this season, but dragging all the way back to to the end of last term. Instead of focusing on Everton’s strengths, the Scot has seemed far too fixated on what the opposition can do.
Now, let’s have a dash of perspective: Bournemouth did not win any of their first six league games and they have looked porous defensively.
But they have been getting used to a new coach, and in the last four games across all competitions — on the back of their 5-1 loss at Chelsea — the Cherries have scored 11 goals and not conceded once.
They have surged up to 13th in the Premier League and are now just a point behind Everton.
And they have done it by focusing on their own strengths.
After the defeat to Chelsea, Moyes admitted Merlin Röhl started out on the right wing because Everton’s coaching staff were preoccupied with wanting to stop Pep Chavarria, who ultimately did not even feature for Xabi Alonso’s team.
And that is where football has moved on, and why a manager like Moyes risks being left behind if he cannot get out of his own way.
Everton’s squad is short, nobody should argue against that. But there are players Moyes is not making use of, unless he is absolutely forced to. And at least part of that seems to be because he is just so worried about what other teams can do.
Hayden Hackney brings the kind of progression that is missing badly in Everton’s midfield — but Moyes won’t start him because he is too concerned about the 24-year-old’s lack of Premier League experience. Instead, Moyes would rather flog an out of form, unfit James Garner.
Charly Alcaraz has proved he is capable of making things happen, but instead, Moyes falls back on making an out-of-sorts Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall play for 90 minutes.
Instead of putting a central midfielder at right wing, or playing an ineffective Brennan Johnson, why not pick Tyler Dibling or Tyrique George on the right (assuming Jack Grealish is available), because both of them bring more of what is required for Everton from the start of matches?
Thierno Barry’s hold-up play is erratic at best, so why is Everton’s approach so often geared towards pumping long balls up to the striker, even if he drastically needs to improve his all-round game?
There are areas in which Moyes has been let down by those above him and in which he has his hands tied, but he must be more willing to focus on what this squad is good at.
Because if he keeps worrying so much about what the opposition can do, then there’s only one way this is going.
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