David Moyes can lead Everton to Europe thanks to summer signings

• Published before Everton 0-0 Villa

You normally don't get a situation where a manager speaks glowingly of his replacement, but Dyche's words turned out to be ominous.

Jamie Carragher called Everton the worst run club in the country in 2023. The manner in which they flirted with relegation, coupled with the toxic war between fans and former owner Farhad Moshiri, made it hard to disagree with him.

However, since the Friedkin Group took charge in December 2024, things are looking up. It was bold to get rid of Dyche, but it could be argued that Everton were stagnating, and the point was to start getting them to climb up the table rather than routinely perform rescue acts to stay up.

With Moyes back at the helm, it has rejuvenated the Toffees, and the Scot seems hellbent on getting Everton out of the constant, looming threat of relegation.

After losing tepidly to Leeds in the season opener, Everton looked lifeless in attack as Elland Road shook them.

For the entire summer, the narrative has been around Moyes repeatedly mentioning his desperate need for reinforcements in the window. With the transfer window now closed, we may have witnessed some of the best business Everton have done in years and the most exciting attack they possess since the Roberto Martinez days:

Grealish and friends

At West Ham, Moyes took over the Hammers when they needed to stay up. He then brought in and developed attacking players with a knack for silky dribbling who could conjure up moments of brilliance by themselves.

The former Manchester United manager's teams are famously solid out of possession, but he relies on a few players to provide the attacking verve. Think of the quartet of Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen. The three became deadly on the counter for Moyes at West Ham.

It feels like something similar is happening with his new Everton team, and Jack Grealish is the notable centrepiece.

Grealish has already done the role of the lone maverick brilliantly in his Aston Villa days before Man City, he suits the role to a tee. You could feel the energy he brings every time he touched the ball against Wolves.

When Grealish is on the ball, it attracts two or three players at once who are all wary of the chaos he creates. It's no wonder he has 4 assists from 4 games.

The English winger also creates space for other players when he's on the ball. With three defenders looking to mark Grealish, it opens up a gap in the half-space that Idrissa Gueye runs into.

With all the focus on the former Aston Villa winger, he can draw defenders in and quickly play a neat pass to find a teammate making a run off him.

Everton aren't just looking to Grealish to form an attack by himself; they are looking to him to form partnerships with other players and elevate the team's overall attacking ability. Space is now appearing for other players that wasn't there previously.

Lightening the load

Dominic Calvert-Lewin spoke before of the immense pressure he felt when the Merseyside club looked to him to score goals when Everton regularly fought relegation.

A glance at the line-up vs Wolves indicates the responsibility will be spread around more. Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye behind Beto all have the attributes of a trademark Moyes attack.

If one of them were to get injured, suitable replacements are waiting on the bench. Moyes' pleas in the summer were listened to as in came Tyler Dibling, Dewsbury-Hall, Carlos Alcaraz and Thierno Barry.

That's without mentioning Dwight McNeil, who will no doubt play a part in the season.

Ndiaye in particular is a player who sprung a game-changing moment from nothing last season. For the goal against Wolves, he and Grealish took it in turns to switch wings and shield the ball, dribbling past four players. If Grealish isn't the problem, Ndiaye will be.

It's a concern for opponents because whilst one is away from the penalty box creating an attack, the other can get on the end of the delivery.

Grealish started the move off receiving wide, switching the ball to Ndiaye and then got into the penalty area to nod back across goal for Beto to finish. The move only got to that point in the first place because Ndiaye was able to keep it going on the opposing wing.

Grealish is a threat, but so are the players around him.

At West Ham, Moyes was jeered when he first came in before proving the doubters wrong and leaving as a hero, regularly getting West Ham into Europe and incredibly, winning them a European trophy.

With the tools at his disposal and a flourishing new attack, Everton fans will be hoping he can lead them toward a similar trajectory.

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