Evening Lads. Have a look at the latest post at http://the-beautiful-game.org/
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Everton. Ever the underdog. David Moyes recently celebrated 10 years in charge of the historic Merseyside club. That in itself is feat worthy of a standing ovation. Only Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have maintained longer tenures in England’s top league in recent memory.
But there’s more to it. Everton have consistently finished in a position battling for the top 6, with a net spend that would make every club in the world jealous. Up until the singing of Darron Gibson, all of Everton’s singings in the last 30 months were frees, loans or nominal payments. There was even a website dedicated to the club’s failure to purchase a new player, such was the frustration of the fans towards the ownership. http://evertontime.com/
Yet Moyes’s boys have finished in the upper echelons of the league on a regular basis, which leads me to think, how is he doing it?
Well firstly, he plays a system so that everyone on the pitch knows what to do. Whether that’s a variation of a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-1-1, each individual on that pitch plays with a fluency and efficacy that yields success. For example, Tim Cahill has proven to be one of the most lethal attacking midfielder’s in the last 10 years due to his ability to arrive late in the box, all due to tactical prowess.
Secondly, Moyes has manipulated the transfer market to a great success. Whether that’s bringing in young foreign talent for a nominal fee, or utilising the loan and free transfer markets, he is doing it without spending a penny. Beyond Moyes is a stringent scouting network that has a particular interest in the lower leagues. Signings of Phil Jagielka, Tim Cahill and Joleon Lescott etc. have proven wonders, with the latter being sold for £22 million to Manchester City in 2009. Not bad, particularly as he only cost £950k in 2007.
Why some managers do not look to the Championship for quality players is beyond me. Norwich and Swansea have stabilised themselves in the Premier League using ‘championship players’ – Surely they have proven themselves to be established Premier League players? Put it this way, how much were the likes of Joe Allen, Leon Britton and Grant Holt worth this time last year. Simple knowledge would indicate their market value would’ve increased three-fold at least since.
Cup finals, European places, and also the odd much coveted Champions League finish was all achieved with minimal spend – hats off to Mr. Moyes.
Moyes never had the financial backing to provide success for the Evertonian public; he has used transfer-market initiative and tactical nous to do just that.
Just goes to show money isn’t everything in football.
Comments welcome.
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David Moyes
posted on 5/4/12
Theres no question Moyes is a good manager but the question is how good.
His style is to build a solid team who grinds out results and out battle their opponents.
If he were to be given serious cash at Everton or another club, i would pretty much guarantee he would make poor signings as all managers do but when there is big money involved people will ask questions. No questions get asked about most of his buys because they are reasonably cheap.
Man Utd or the team going for the title dont want a manager to do well they want him to excell and no one knows what he would do when every time you loose a game for a big team the media will make life hell for you.
My point is he can probably get praised for loosing 15 plus times a season as Everton manager but get sacked if loosing 5 games for another club, the pressure to succeed is huge at certain clubs, but i dont feel like he has any pressure on him at Everton.
This is not a dig at Everton as they would not get a better manager than him which is why they sit back and support him
posted on 5/4/12
Fair enough, but every time i watch Everton play they play decent football, great battlers even if serious underdogs. I don't think there can be any pressure put upon him, as there isn't any serious finance to expect him to deliver.
posted on 6/4/12
We cannot really say what he would be like with funds. Jelavic though is probably a good measure as to what Moyes would do with money as we really did get him on the cheap because of Rangers problems.
posted on 6/4/12
Moyes it would appear is a good man manager but although a good quality normally his addiction to loyalty can go to far at times. I refer to his habit of returning his favourites to the side after injury etc, regardless of form. As to what he would be like with a Mancini warchest etc! we cannot really say, it is quite possible that far from going straight out and buying the most expensive players around, he would continue to use Asda as opposed to Wait Rose.