Moyes thrilled but staying grounded

I think what is important is that the team played well, and we need to play well consistently for the next five games to build the confidence.

What was also fantastic was the support of the fans in the stadium - awesome!!!

“I've tried just about everything to try and get off to a good start and we tried something else this year."

Maybe its called having a go at home regardless of the opposition and not playing players obviously way off form..........as well as a fantastic game from the hair and great team performance of course.

Am not Moyes' biggest fan and would still prefer someone less cautious but if we carry on playing like that for a while then I could start to change my mind - history shows that it will take a great turn by the worm to get to this point but you never know. Maybe he fancies one last shot this season before deciding on new contract in 10 months time. Maybe he's finally realised that attack is quite often the best form of of defence? Maybe he finally realises just how good a first team we actually have and is now confident to let them have a go. Who the f knows, we beat the manc first game, I'll happily take that for now.

Can't wait for Villa now, those sods always cause us a problem but if we play like we did yesterday (first 65 mins anyway) then I really think we'll come away with 3 points.

Then followed by much weaker teams, dream, dream, dream. Will stop now, one step at a time an all that... .. why is it only Tuesday!

Or just maybe Denis #112
He was given a bit of money to spend in January, bought well and the team improved dramatically second half of last season as a result & we're just carrying on where we left off.

Maybe pulling out of the Java Cup in Indonesia was the biggest single boost in our pre-season build-up, and a real blessing in disguise.

It's a detail often overlooked, but the human side to this alleged "fiasco" and "embarrassment" (as some posters would have it) was that the players stayed at home, trained and played in familiar surroundings, and didn't experience the draining effects of long-haul flights and the hassle of behaving like "ambassadors".

I get the point about "selling the brand", and the financial benefits to overseas tours, but maybe the players (and even Moyes himself) felt that little bit more relaxed and refreshed going into last night's game as a result of missing out on Indonesia, and that made the crucial bit of difference.

"Then followed by much weaker teams, dream, dream, dream."

Cautionary note...we were the on-paper 'weaker team' last night.

The weaker teams will give us a different set of problems to overcome. Historically, when facing teams that deny us space, we have issues unlocking them. Maybe a combination of Jelavic and Mirallas will give us a new ability to pick the locks, but, it doesnt necessarily follow that beating a porous United side means we'll be equally effective against a Stoke or Reading.

"One swallow" and all that but just watched the match again and damned good we really were.

Oh, and Mr Ferguson we didn't just "lump it" we played effectively mixing it up and taking advantage of your crumbling teams weakness - you were lucky it was just 1 - 0.

Well done Mr Moyes and the boys fantastic all round.

Steve - absolutely right. We tend to be at our worst at home against so called weaker teams. We lack ingenuity and imagination. As you say, Jelavic and Mirallas, with the aid of Pienaar, might make the difference this season. Certainly last night's tactics won't work against Stoke or Sunderland. Moyes must know that, but the question is: can he vary our style successfully?

Peter (#120) - your assessment may be right, but in my experience young sportsmen generally enjoy touring and a few weeks away from the ordinary can be great for team building.

That said, the tours I was on always included heavy alcohol consumption and dubious extra-curricular activities so maybe my memory is impaired.

And Naismith...we have the best offensive side I remember in Moyes's time. You could even add Fella into that in his advanced role....

I've been on a couple of similar tours to you, Si (126), and they were great fun - "what happens on tour, stays on tour", eh ?

My impression is though that modern Premiership players are never allowed "off the leash", even on tour, and maybe especially on tour. It's more hand-shaking and promotion, rather than birds and booze.

Maybe more to the point, top footballers today seem to be a very insular, anti-social bunch, incapable (in my admittedly limited experience) of functioning well in anything considered to be "alien" surroundings. They are happy in their own bubble, protected from the outside world, and have virtually all of their needs met by either the club, or their inner circle.

So, to be excused a trip to the Far East, and the unfamiliar sights and sounds, was a real boost to our players, I'd imagine, and maybe that extra 1% of pre-season contentment was the pay off last night.

I think if Moyes can bring in some cover for central midfield and left back positions before the window slams shut then we're pretty much sorted for the season. We've got the makings of a side that can do it all, intricate little bits of build up play or route one if we need it. Both were on display last night at times.

I'm genuinely excited and optimistic about the upcoming season now. We've taken the first of many big scalps. If we can carry it on against the "lesser" sides then I don't think top 4 is as far fetched as it's been in the last few years. Spurs and Arsenal are both weaker and Newcastle, although they've managed to keep their side together, aren't exactly unbeatable. As for Liverpool, they'll be lucky to finish in the European spots.

Brendon 116, the cash used to bring in the likes of Jelavic, Gibson, Pienaar, Naismith etc, came from finally getting rid of players that were adding next to nothing to the team. Billy was on the bench for 2.5 years, cahill offered very little last year, could have sold Rodwell earlier, ybbogate etc. The constant lack of money mantra, imo, always missed an important point, which was that we could have gotten rid of players (without weakening the team that much) and raised money to reinvest.

Am glad that we've finally cleared players off the books who offered little (if anything) and seem to have used the money wisely. So pat on the back for Moyes for the players brought in this year, but he really should have started doing this a long time ago (should have gotten rid of Billy as eary as 2010 when it was clear he didn't rate him).

Steve, understand where you're coming from. Am trying not to get carried away as it was a much weakened manu side and the likes of fulham, sunderland, wigans etc wont just lie down and die. What will be a big test for the team (and especially Moyes) is how we play when we're the favourite and not the under dog like yesterday. Really hope we don't revert to type and play cautious football regardless of the opposition, home and away. Still makes me angry when I think of the game away to west ham in 2010!

With the likes of Jelavic, Mirallas, Naismith, Pienaar and Fellaini in current form, we reall have the fire power to take it to the none top sides, home and away.

Hope this is the case, anyway, a damn site better start to the season than the last few years. Heres hoping.

"Hope this is the case, anyway, a damn site better start to the season than the last few years. Heres hoping. "

Amen to that mate. This is, as Kev Johnson says, where we'll see what Moyes is capable of. For the first time in years Moyes is looking to have the right balance of graft and craft in the squad to be able to challenge for a really nosebleed league placing.

In the past he's been limited by the quality in the team to certain formations and his 'established' squads have been more hobsons choice than considered design. Now though, if injuries are kind and we can sustain the challenge, he has options to mix the play and really use good tactical nous to carry games we've grafted mightily to a point for in seasons past. Last night he passed the test. I'd say we'll know by Christmas finally whether Moyes has got greatness in him or is just fantastically average with a knack for talent spotting thats hardly a shock for a bloke with an agent for a brother.

Not a big Moyes fan but tactics were spot on last night. Not sure how it would work for Villa game but I would replace Neville and Osman in midfield with Naismith and maybe Mirallas if he's ready. Neville could play right back if required and maybe use Osman as impact sub. That would mean Fellaini moves further back and that might mix it up enough to keep Villa guessing how to contain him.

I cannot pin point how Gibson makes the team better but he does. My team selection would employ different tactics, than last night, and would rotate the squad a little bit. Maybe even put Heitinga in for Distin, then that would be three changes from the United game and the team would still look really strong.

I think we need a striker. If jelavic gets injured we're v short.

Peter,
If we hadn't beat United last night they may have let us have Hernandez on loan as he may not get too many chances on the team. I still don't understand the Berbatov thing, last full season he played he was top scorer so they bench him. Surely it would have been better to sell him at that point.

Mirallas for Neville for me against villa, tucking Osman into the centre. I think we have a good mix of creativity, graft, strength, and fire power.

The key to a good season is keeping key players fit. The first 14 or so players are top class and a match for any team but beyond that we struggle for strength in depth if there are long term injuries.

The two main differentiators between us and the genuine title contenders are firstly that they can spend really really big on the players that command the most, i.e. attackers, and secondly that they can have top class replacements warming the bench (or the changing room even) who could come in as seamless replacements when they suffer long term injuries to their first choice players.

In short, that comes down, once again, to money.

Denis I agree with your principle but I do think that timing has had a lot to do with the make up of the current squad. Moyes likes each signing to improve the quality of the squad, he knows that with such a limited budget very few mistakes can be made. It sounds so easy to say just sell Rodwell, but what if the bidders aren't there matching Moyes's value of these players? For Rodwell to be sold, his value as a player and his value to the team have to decrease in the eyes of Moyes whilst his market price remains high and someone makes good on this by making a bid, all things that only happened in this transfer window. Likewise with Naismith, we picked up a player of his quality for free, he could easily have been about 5 million pre Rangers meltdown, with this in mind what would be worth more to Moyes before the acquisition of Naismith, Cahill or 1 million? 1 million probably won't get you anyone better than what Cahill was offering, you could gamble and get lucky but it's unlikely. Once naismith was free however the sale of Cahill made sense. The same for the acquisition of Gibson, Moyes pounced at the right time when Ferguson's use of the player coincided with an extremely low market value, any earlier and you pay the 'promising youngster' premium, any later and well who knows judging by his recent form for us perhaps he might have got into that United side. Moyes scouts these players extensively, he doesn't just take chances. There's probably so few plaers out there of the quality Moyes wants in the price range we can afford. If and when players become available and values match then dealing can be done but I don't blame him for holding onto players perhaps too long and then trading for his quality targets rather than just selling them and bringing in less thought out transfers just to plug the holes in the squad.

I don't see why people think we need a left back. We have Distin, Neville, Garbutt and Bidwell.

Up front we literally have nobody but Jelavić. That surely has to be addressed before anything else.

Also, there's been a few people saying Osman should be dropped to accommodate Miralles or Naismith. Rotation is understandable, but I think Ossie should start more games than not. He's not a winger and when played inside, he's as neat and tidy as Pienaar.

Joe @ 150 -

Couldn't agree more. Pray for good health. The key beyond a doubt this year.

Phil, because Distin and Neville are not natural left backs and the other lads have never played a league game. Also Mirallas and Naismith have played lots of games up front. I think a right midfielder and left back are needed more than any other position.

James 153, follow your logic to an extent but have to diagree on a couple of things. Using your above statement, can you explain why we paid 9m for a Russian midfielder and then sat him on the bench for 2.5 years, whilst paying him about 30-40k a week? (When we were skint.)

The rangers situation allowed us to bring in 2 players relatively cheap and Moyes used this opportunity well but you can't just sit tight and hope someone becomes available in a year or two or three. You need to be proactive and the Billy example just has me scratching my head (and a lot of others too). Was clear early doors Moyes didn't rate him, he shouldhave put him out of his misery earlier.

Re the players of quality only being avaialble this year, have to disagree, there are always decent players available for reltifvely little, every year. Look at Newcastle last year as an example - Ba, Cisse, Tiote, Cabaye all cost a total of 15m in transfer fees. We couldn't sign them at the time as we..............had no money. (Had we e.g. sold billy, we would).

All water under the bridge, better late than never and all that. Am going to sit back and hopefully enjoy watching us play this season, which is not something I thought I would find my self saying whilst Moyes was still in charge. (baines and jella are in my fantasy league team so hope Fellaini will let Jella score!)

James Martin (153) Well said. Genuine understanding or market forces, circumstances and real life as opposed to 'pie in the sky' football management

"Can you explain why we paid £9m for a Russian midfielder and then sat him on the bench for 2.5 years, whilst paying him about £30-40k a week? (When we were skint.)" - because we raped Citteh to the tune of £24m for Lescott.

When he first came in, he looked good, his corners were 10 times better than Arteta's and he had quite a few assists and scored some crackers. Unfortunately it turned out that he was slow and not quick minded enough for the Premier League.

Phil Sammon, pet hate of mine (I'm sure you care) is using the word literally inappropriately.

Up front we have Velios, Anichibe, Naismith and Miralles.

I'd like another out and out striker, someone like Owen, who could fill in if necessary. Can't really think of a realistic one. But I agree with Paul Mackie and think we need another central midfielder and left back as cover.

I think DM bought Bily with the Europa League in mind - at that point we were in it every year, I think - and the lad did play fairly well in those matches, the pace suited him and it was a bit more chess-like and possession-oriented.

That's my theory anyway. He probably thought he had decent sell on value too. As Tony said, we only paid what we paid for him because we were in the money big time after the Lescott sale.

(I don't like Tony's use of the "r" word, by the way - there's no call for mixing up serious sexual assault with "doing someone over", which is what he meant. Certain he meant no offense, but there are other ways of putting it.)

Shane... agreed.

Jamie Rednapp does it particularly well..."that player is literally on fire"...

Knob.

@ Shane Corcoran #250. I'm with you on the use of the word 'literally'. A few seasons ago watching a Chelsea game, according to the commentator, Chelsea's defensive midfielder Claude Makalele was "literally just sitting in front of the two centre halves". He wasn't.

I can just see Bill saying to Moysie, "Well we beat the best in the country with this 11 players so you don't really need any more, so I tell you what: I will give the remaining £6 mill to the bank" – possibly not verbatim but close...

The fact that we have the smallest first team squad in the Prem should necessitate us making at least one full time player purchase and a couple of loans. Or is that just wages down the drain when we have got 15 top players and don't really need more?

I'd go into the Villa match with the same team tbh. I think it would be naive to unestimate Villa, and some very talented attacking players, because we've beaten Man U at home. The new players, who will hopefully graduate into the first team in the coming weeks, are probaly not ready right now. Naismith, because of a less than great pre-season after a lengthy injury lay off, and Mirallas, simply because he has only just joined. The Capital Cup game will be the ideal scenario to blood both of the new guys from the start I think, and see how they hold up.

I also think the Man United game proved we can create with that first 11. Obviously Neville, and Osman playing out of position (although he is severly under-rated on this site, he is far better centrally) are not ideal, I think they are the best options currently. Will be nice to have options from the bench as well.

With respect to players we need...I'd go for an attacking creative player, as we seriously lack depth. In my dream world, the player would be Adam Johnson, but more realistically, SWP or Yossi. Another central mid, because of Gibson's injury issues, whilst not a necessity, would be nice. In dream world, i'd say a loan bid for Essien, and I think Ramsay wont be getting much playing time at Arsenal this season either. I'd also like to see another striker, and in dream world, that would be Hernandez. However, another top striker would necessitate changing our system, and I firmly believe formations with 2 strikers up top in a more traditional system is a thing of the past. So I suppose, even in the event of having some money to spend, fishing around for a lower league striker, or an out of favour striker abroad, is the best option. I really like Ross McCormack personally, as a striker who can play wide as well, but Leeds wouldn't let him go easily.

Anyone heard anything else about Niang? I think we will probaly have a small amount to spend, if his potential deal doesn't materialise.

Nice one Lee. You do hear some good ones. I think we should start a thread on it.

I think Moyes sticks by his 11 players once they have started a game in the new season.
The problem is that Neville and Osman are playing out of position and the team suffers because of it.

When will Moyes start to use Naismith and Mirallas, even Junior is a better option then Neville in the middle.
Two strange picks by Moyes, but he does the same thing each year, he only changes when he has an injury to one of these two or both.
Last year Cahill played when he should be on the bench.

Things only fall into place in January because by then he has players out because of injury or suspension.
It is a pattern I have noticed about Moyes for a long time.

Right now it is crystal clear that Neville does not belong as a central midfielder, but Moyes wants to play him there anyway.

I fear we will se little of the two new signings until someone gets injured.
That is so typical of Moyes,I just pray to God he wil wise up and use the best eleven he has, because right now he is not.

Mirallas was not ready for the United game, but Naismith was and he has done a very decent job this far so the best way would be to put Osman back into central midfield and let Naismith do his thing with Jelavic against Aston-VIlla.

If I see Neville in midfield again I will scream, I do not think Moyes understands how little he contributes.
Granted he was of use against United, but going forward he just ruins the flow when he gets the ball. Too old, too slow , and a terrible passer of the ball.

I really hope Neville is on the bench against Villa, Naismith and Mirallas will need to start playing as soon as possible.
If they are included then we suddenly have a good first eleven, but not as long as Osman plays right winger and Neville is one of our central midfielders.

Listen to the sound of this, " Who is your favourite midfielder at EVerton?"
Right now Neville is our Arteta, how lame is that.
Please will someone else confirm that Neville has no place in midfield, unless we intend to shut up shop each game for the rest of the season?

I