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Six conclusions from David Moyes’ first press conference in Everton

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David Moyes has admitted that the offer to return to Everton after almost eight months out of football was a complete surprise.

The 61-year-old was appointed on Saturday morning, less than 48 hours after the relegation-threatened Premier League side announced the end of Sean Dyche’s two-year reign.

In his first open press conference the day after meeting his team, Moyes revealed the timeline for negotiations, how he got over his nerves and what he had already said to striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Here are six key topics discussed by Moyes as he prepares for his first game on the bench at home to an Aston Villa side who are 15 points above Everton in the table on Wednesday (19:30 GMT).

Moyes to Everton: The Friedkin Group acted quickly

The Friedkin Group closed its long-awaited deal to take over Everton on 19 December, putting chairman and chief executive Dan Friedkin and the club’s new chief executive, Marc Watts, in a position to make important decisions.

One of the first was the sacking of Dyche, who previously said Watts had shown him “nothing but support” during a “chance” meeting at the club’s Finch Farm training session shortly after taking over.

“It was very quick,” Moyes said of Everton’s initial contact, adding that he first heard from them on “Tuesday or Wednesday”.

“They called me to say that there is a chance that there will be a change. I had a few conversations with Dan and Marc, and that’s where things really took off.

“I had no idea until that moment. I thought Sean was doing really well and I didn’t see any changes at the time.

“They are in America and I am here, so the conversations were mostly via video calls. I had a few Americans [on Monday].”

Everton are a ‘different beast’ – and Moyes has held previous talks

After being awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours, Moyes said he is open to a return to football but he would not “want to be at the bottom fighting relegation”.

“Really, I didn’t necessarily want to come back,” said the man who rose to fame during 11 years at the club, leading them to eight top-seven finishes – including fourth in 2004/05. – along with four European campaigns and the FA Cup final in 2008/09.

“As everyone knows, for me this is a different beast than many other clubs. Everton is different. I’ve had plenty of other opportunities to consider other jobs since leaving West Ham [in May].

“I really didn’t expect the job to come up – I didn’t see it coming. But when they asked me, it was too big an opportunity to turn down.”

After leaving Everton for the first time, Moyes briefly succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in an ill-fated tenure at Manchester United in 2013/14, eventually rebuilding his reputation during two spells with the Hammers between 2017 and 2024.

Everton finished no lower than 12th and finished in the top 10 five times in the first eight seasons after Moyes left, but they narrowly avoided relegation in each of the last two campaigns, as well as being deducted a total of eight points due to financial rules last season.

“I was very close to coming back on three or four occasions,” Moyes revealed, noting that his second spell at West Ham brought them their first European trophy since 1965 in the form of the 2022-23 Conference League.

“I have spoken at different times and at different periods of my career. That’s football and I have no problem with that.”

Moyes feels ‘a lot of pressure’

With 19 league games played, Everton have three wins and are a point above the relegation zone with a game in hand over the teams below them.

Only bottom side Southampton have fewer wins and the Saints are also the only Premier League side with a worse record than Everton’s 15 goals, five fewer than Ipswich Town, who are the next highest scorers.

“For a couple of weeks I didn’t think there was any chance of Everton being in the relegation battle,” said Moyes. “I thought they would be strong enough to get out of it.

“Now I’m sitting down and I’m going to lean on it, saying we’re going to be strong enough to stay away from it. We need players who play better and score more goals if we want to make it happen.

“I will try to stabilize myself, take the club in another direction and make it better. I see it as a lot of pressure.

“I just remember that we always felt like a team that was always challenging against the top teams and trying to be in Europe.

“I’ve done it quite quickly here and at West Ham, so my idea is to try to do everything as quickly as possible, because I’m not going to be here for 11 years, like I was before.”

Moyes said he felt “really nervous” returning to Finch Farm. “I haven’t been back since the day I left,” he mused, although his memory of some of the familiar names that awaited him when he took office in 2002, as a 38-year-old, gave him an element of soothing context.

“On the first day, when I came in, I had to go into the dressing room with David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Duncan Ferguson and Tommy Gravesen. Being a very young coach, I said ‘gosh, they won’t even know who I am’.”

Everton transfers: ‘Elite’ signings and contract talks

Former England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure and captain Seamus Coleman are among the players whose contracts expire at the end of this season.

Moyes will also be able to assess some of Dyche’s summer signings, including Tim Iroegbunam, Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O’Brien and loanees such as Orel Mangala and Jack Harrison, as he plans for survival and a stronger campaign in Everton’s first game of the season at their new stadium with a capacity of 52,888 seats Bramley-Moore Pier.

“The stadium looks business, it looks elite,” he said. “We have to start getting some elite players and start looking at the level of players [so] we can give everyone something to shout about in the new stadium.

“I have to impress the players and tell them that we need them to come. The contract expired with 11 players and that is something we need [deal with].

“I need a lot of those players to show that they are ready to help us and not think about other things. There is an opportunity for freshness.”

What Moyes told Calvert-Lewin

Calvert-Lewin he was the top scorer for Everton in 2019/20. and 2020/21, but the injury-prone 27-year-old scored as many goals in the last of those seasons as he has in the four campaigns since, including just two so far in 2024/25.

Despite appearing in every league game and starting 16 times, Calvert-Lewin has kept a clean sheet in 15 games, although a run of four goals in five games in April and May showed that the 2020/21 player of the season. still has the potential to produce.

“We all feel he can be the one who can make a big difference,” Moyes said. “If he gets his goalscoring boots back it will be a huge help to Evertonians and the manager as well.

“We will give him as much confidence and help as we can, but then you need the player to stand up and do his part. I told him I need goals from him now and he needs to start delivering.”

Moyes backs owners – but remains ‘concerned’

Friedkins’ takeover of Everton put 10 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs in American hands, and Moyes also noted that American investors were increasingly involved in English football league clubs.

The Scot seemed keen to work under the group, which also owns Italian giants Roma, where they have not been afraid to sack big-name managers, including Jose Mourinho and Daniele De Rossi.

When he left the Serie A side in January 2023, Mourinho – briefly associated with the vacancy left by Dyche – said Dan Friedkin “he doesn’t understand football”.

“Dan and Marc were very good,” Moyes remarked of his discussions with them. “A lot of Evertonians should be happy. They seem to be heading in the right direction.

“You can never tell what managers are going to do, and managers can’t tell what owners are going to do. I think the talks are good – they want to get us back on track and right now we need some adhesive plaster.

“Who isn’t worried about their owners? All managers are. We have a big influx of American owners into the Premier League, so we have to work out their cultures and what they expect.”





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