In an interview with the Telegraph, David Moyes has said that he believes Everton would have been close to winning the Premier League had he stayed at the club prior to him leaving for United.
Now, it’s easy to disregard Moyes’ words as delusion – especially given that most people read the Telegraph’s headline and not the actual interview – but I don’t think what Moyes said was entirely wrong. In fact, there’s nothing to suggest that Everton would have fallen off our continuous upward trajectory.
Moyes was in the middle of a revolution at Everton as he was adapting his style to more suit modern Football and the ever evolving game. We saw him change from a very rigid system to a dynamic, free-flowing setup which had the flair of Kevin Mirallas and the ever-solid defense at its heart.
I believe Moyes was a Lukaku and Barkley away from being able to break the glass ceiling into the top four, and given the time an difference resources that Ronald Koeman now has at his disposal, he would have got there eventually.
If we look at the end of his Everton career, we were a much-changed unit from the gritty side he inherited all those years ago as he arrived fresh-faced from Preston. There is no denying that Moyes spent well at Everton, as most of his acquisitions were superb, considering the tremendously tight budget he found himself with. Tim Cahill’s came and went, and ten years later Everton found themselves knocking on the door of the elite clubs in England, attempting to join the A-list titans.
We also witnessed a shift in the dynamic of the league itself as Leicester shocked the world and we witnessed the greatest story ever told in Football. This change, as anomalous as it may be, did mean a change in views on the ‘underdog’ and there’s no reason to suggest Everton wouldn’t be taking up that mantle.
Granted, it wouldn’t have been the same as I presume Moyes would have went about it in a much slower way, through natural progression, but I inevitably think that Everton, given time, could have challenged the Elite clubs and possibly have been up there.
I think the departure of Moyes came at the worst possible time for us, as it meant we lost all forward (However slow-burning) momentum we had. Instead, we appointed the wordsmith, cavalier Catalan and that set us back a good two years in progression. While he did allow us to dream and he rid us of the ‘Little old Everton’ mentality, he never had the foundations to back his lofty dreams to make Everton the Mersey Maestros.
Besides all that, Koeman’s got us sorted. We’ll be there. Give it time.
