Six takeaways from David Moyes’ first Everton press conference
David Moyes has admitted the offer to return to Everton after almost eight months away from football came as a complete surprise.
The 61-year-old was appointed on Saturday morning, less than 48 hours after the relegation-threatened Premier League club made the announcement End of Sean Dyche’s two-year reign.
In a candid first press conference a day after meeting his team, Moyes revealed the schedule of negotiations, how he had overcome his nervousness and what he had already said to striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Here are six key topics Moyes discussed as he prepares for his first home game in charge against an Aston Villa side 15 points ahead of Everton in the table on Wednesday (7:30pm GMT).
2002 ⏩ 2025 pic.twitter.com/a74o9M8Ldz
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
Moyes to Everton: The Friedkin Group acted quickly
The Friedkin Group completed its long-awaited deal to take over Everton on December 19, empowering chairman and chief executive Dan Friedkin and the club’s new chief executive Marc Watts to make key decisions.
One of the first of these was the sacking of Dyche, who had previously said Watts had shown him “nothing but support” at a “casual” meeting at the club’s Finch Farm training ground shortly after the takeover.
“It happened really quickly,” Moyes said of Everton’s first contact, adding that he first heard from them “on Tuesday or Wednesday”.
“I received a call saying there was a chance for a change. I had several conversations with Dan and Marc and things really took off.
David Moyes talks about his backroom staff, with Leighton Baines confirmed to be moving on from leadership #EFCU18 to join his coaching team. 🔵 pic.twitter.com/4K6P4xdLLM
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
“Up until that point I had no idea. I thought Sean did a really good job and I didn’t see any changes at that point.
“They are in America and I am here, so the conversations took place mainly via video calls. I had a few Americans visiting (on Monday).”
Everton ‘a different beast’ – and Moyes has had previous talks
After being awarded an OBE at the New Year Honors, Moyes said he was open to a return to football but would “not want to be at the bottom of the relegation battle”.
“To be honest, I wasn’t keen on going back,” said the man who made a name for himself in 11 years at the club, leading the club to eight top-seven finishes – including fourth place in the 2004/05 season – and four European Cup appearances and the 2008/09 FA Cup final.
“Goodison will help.” pic.twitter.com/lp7mZ7htYW
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
“As everyone knows, this is a different beast for me than many other clubs. Everton is different. Since leaving West Ham (in May) I’ve had a few other opportunities to think about other jobs.
“I really didn’t expect the job to come – I didn’t see it. But when I was asked, it was too much of a chance to refuse.”
After leaving Everton for the first time, Moyes briefly succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in an ill-fated spell at Manchester United in 2013/14, eventually rebuilding his reputation in two spells at the Hammers between 2017 and 2024.
Everton finished no worse than 12th and made it into the top 10 five times in the first eight seasons after Moyes’ departure, but in the last two seasons they narrowly avoided relegation and were most recently finished with a total of eight points due to financial rules deducted season.
▶️ David Moyes says Armando Broja will undergo another scan for the ankle injury he sustained in our FA Cup win against Peterborough. pic.twitter.com/TxICoB7DxK
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
“I was close to coming back three or four times,” Moyes revealed, pointing out that his second spell at West Ham brought their first European trophy since 1965 with the 2022-23 Conference League.
“I have lectured at different times and in different phases of my career. That’s football and I have no problem with it at all.”
Moyes feels “a lot of pressure”
With 19 league games played, Everton have won three times and are one point above the relegation zone, with the teams below still having a game in hand.
Only bottom club Southampton have fewer wins and the Saints are also the only top flight team with a worse record than Everton with 15 goals, five less than second worst scorer Ipswich Town.
“For a few weeks I didn’t think Everton had a chance of fighting a relegation battle,” Moyes said. “I thought they were strong enough to get out of there.
▶️ David Moyes confirms Dominic Calvert-Lewin trained this morning but Dwight McNeil will miss the game against Aston Villa as he continues to recover from a knee injury. pic.twitter.com/OCb7dbwULX
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
“I’m on the pitch now and I’m going to rely on it and say that we’ll be strong enough to stay away from it. To achieve this, we need players who play better and score more goals.
“I will try to stabilize myself, take the club in a different direction and make it better. I see this as enormous pressure.
“I just remember that we always felt like a team that was always playing against the top teams and trying to get into Europe.
“I made it here and at West Ham pretty quickly, so my idea is to do everything as quickly as possible because I won’t be here for 11 years like before.”
Moyes said he was “really nervous” when he returned to Finch Farm. “I haven’t been back since the day I left,” he thought, although remembering some of the high-profile names that awaited him when he took over as a 38-year-old in 2002 gave him a measure of reassuring context.
“The first day I came in I had to go into the dressing room with David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Duncan Ferguson and Tommy Gravesen. Being a really young coach, I said, ‘Gosh, they won’t even know who I am.'”
Boss. 💙 pic.twitter.com/AF5hzDWF0o
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
Everton transfers: “Elite” signings and contract negotiations
Former England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure and captain Seamus Coleman are among the players who are out of contract at the end of this season.
Moyes will also be able to assess some of the players Dyche signed in the summer, including Tim Iroegbunam, Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O’Brien and loanees such as Orel Mangala and Jack Harrison, while ensuring a survival and are planning a stronger season in their new stadium with a capacity of 52,888 spectators Bramley Moore Dock.
“The stadium looks like a business, it looks like elite,” he said. “We need to start bringing in some elite players and look at the level of players so we can give everyone something to be excited about in the new stadium.”
“I have to impress the players and tell them we need them. There are eleven players who are no longer under contract and we have to deal with that.
“I need a lot of these players to show that they are ready to help us and not think about other things. There’s a chance of freshness.”
Back to the Blues. 💙 pic.twitter.com/8shgHOcczE
– Everton (@Everton) January 13, 2025
What Moyes told Calvert-Lewin
Calvert Lewin scored the most goals for Everton in 2019/20 and 2020/21, but the injury-plagued 27-year-old scored as many goals in the last of those seasons as he has in the four seasons since, including just two so far in 2024/25.
Despite appearing in every league game and starting 16 times, Calvert-Lewin failed to score in 15 games, although a run of four goals in five games in April and May showed that the player of the 2020/21 season was always there still has the potential to produce.
“We all feel he can be the one who can make a big difference,” Moyes said. “If he puts his goalscoring boots back on it will be a huge help to both the Everton players and the coach.
“We give him as much confidence and help as possible, but then the player has to step up and contribute. “I told him I needed goals from him straight away and that he had to start delivering.”
The story continues… 🔵 pic.twitter.com/c6hK3wjY4w
– Everton (@Everton) January 11, 2025
Moyes supports owners – but remains “concerned”
Friedkins’ takeover of Everton has put 10 of the 20 Premier League clubs in American hands, and Moyes also noted that US investors are increasingly becoming involved in English Football League clubs.
The Scot was optimistic about working with the group, which also includes Italian giants Roma, where he was not afraid of sacking big-name managers such as Jose Mourinho and Daniele De Rossi.
When he left the Serie A side in January 2023, Mourinho was – briefly linked to the position vacated by Dyche – said Dan Friedkin “doesn’t understand football.”
“Dan and Marc were very good,” Moyes noted of his conversations with the pair. “Many Evertonians should be happy. It looks like they are going in the right direction.
“You can never tell how managers will behave, and managers can’t say what owners will do. I think the discussions are good – they want to get us back on the right track and we need a bit of a Band-Aid at the moment.
“Who doesn’t worry about their owners? All managers are. We have a big influx of American owners in the Premier League, so we need to find out their cultures and their expectations.”
