Michael Kenrick 04/05/2025 6comments  |  Jump to last

David Moyes showed some frustration with 'terrible decisions' made by some of his defenders as they failed to protect a nice 2-0 lead over Ipswich Town yesterday. 

 

 

“I think it’s about understanding how to see the game through. I thought we made a couple of terrible decisions, regarding runs and tackles and what not when neither were needed. We sort of left ourselves a bit exposed.

 “I think if we all knew the answer, we wouldn’t let it happen again.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but I think there are a lot of positives in terms of where we’ve been and how we’re playing and what we’re doing to make chances.”

That's now only one win in the last 10 games for Everton, which represents a disturbing return to relegation form after Moyes's much-heralded new manager bounce that saw his team establish a 17-point cushion above the Bottom 3 and ensure Premier League survival since he returned to the club in January.

But Everton have dropped 10 points from winning positions when they have led by two or more goals this season, and Moyes added: “We’ve done that a couple of times but not seen it out. The game was always tight. We should have done a little bit better."

"We never shook Ipswich off really. They were always there or thereabouts,” he added. "We just couldn’t quite get there. We did a lot of good things and we tried some different things to see how players play in different roles.

“It's something a lot of the supporters have been asking about, Ili playing as a 10, and wanting to see more of Charly Alcaraz, so we've given them another good opportunity to show what they can do.

"Getting Dwight back, it was the first time I've had Dwight since I've been at the club. I thought he scored a good goal, he still lacked a bit of intensity in his play in the first half but I actually thought he got better in the second half, put in three or four brilliant crosses for us, which probably if we'd got on the end of one of them, it might have just seen us over the line really.

"The game was always tight, but we should have done a bit better. We've had that a couple of times now, we've been two up and not seen it out.”

“I thought we did really well in the opening part of the game, got the goals eventually but the goal just before half-time rocked us a bit and gave Ipswich something to keep going at. We couldn’t quite get the third goal.

“I'm disappointed we didn't win but I think there's a lot of positives in where we've been and how we're playing and what we're doing, trying to make the chances.

“We didn't have enough shots in the second half but I thought we had near-enough control for most of the game up until the last 5 or 10 minutes when they got a couple of corners and long throws at that point, whatever time that was. I thought in the main we controlled the game.”

 

Reader Comments (6)

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Mike Doyle
1 Posted 04/05/2025 at 09:18:11
One useful point to come out of performances like yesterday’s is that it shows Moyes what this group of players are like against relatively weaker players. How many times is that this season that they have thrown away a lead?
Dave Williams
2 Posted 04/05/2025 at 10:08:42
What people seem to be forgetting is that this is, with one exception, the squad that lost Dyche his job and had us staring down the barrel of relegation. A lot of our squad are either poor players or are not up to it mentally and Moyes has done very well to get us safe at this point in the season.
We will get better as he weeds out the players who aren’t up to it. We need to avoid the trap we’ve fallen into before and not buy players on their way down. We need to get a few young players through into the squad though there doesn’t seem much in that regard apart from Armstrong. We will be restricted by FFP rules and I do wonder whether Branthwaite or Pickford will be sacrificed to increase the transfer kitty?
This will be a slow process - I’d guess two seasons to get to mid table and maybe creep into the top 10 but who knows what will happen? We need to continue to support like we have all season and try to be patient, which isn’t easy but with the new stadium and new owners we are moving in the right direction.
Raymond Fox
3 Posted 04/05/2025 at 10:17:41
Moyes does give an honest summing up of the games.

We scored 2 goals which makes a change, but thats the thing, play more attack minded players and you run the risk of conceeding more goals. Defence has been our best asset, its swings and roundabouts and of course Tarkowski was missing which probably cost us the match.

Each game Moyes will have a better idea of who he wants to retain and who he doesn't, results are not vital for us now.

Mal van Schaick
5 Posted 04/05/2025 at 11:03:33
We are the home team and Ipswich should have been cannon fodder for a team that should want to win for the home fans, especially as it was the penultimate game at Goodson park, but I didn’t see any constructive pressing and dominating play, just bluster and aimless running around.

A New Stadium and New Owners, fantastic, but realistically the bulk of this squad should be moved on and replaced or else it will be more of the same next season.

A great opportunity to rebuild and have a squad challenging for European places and cups. Please don’t get it wrong.

Martin Farrington
6 Posted 04/05/2025 at 11:12:11
Dave@2

Spot on.

Its still a turd.

Dyche gave it a go. He got some crud off. Sadly we then added more. Nothing he could do to knock the edges off and make it something its not.

Moyes cleaning kit, being different,gave the same shite a more rounded look but that crap keeps shining through.

He can only do so much.

We need a jet spray to blast away all the shite thats caked itself in over the decades as well as more recent pooh.

Unfortunately Masters and his PGMOL (featuring anti-EFC VAR - for extra non stick points and stubborn decisions) have removed the power supply allowing us to cleanse that nasty past.

So protective wear on for next seasons huge sloppy cow pat that is destined for our fresh new pasture

Frank Crewe
7 Posted 04/05/2025 at 11:47:05
I don't think the defence can be blamed for Ipswich's first goal. A worldie shot that no keeper could have saved. But the equalizer was entirely down to the defence. Didn't stop the cross and our two 6' 5" young CB's failed to mark up properly.
Our problem is we are still fragile when the opposition ups the pace and runs at us. We scored two good goals but the moment they scored we panicked once again and started trying to hold out as they increased the pressure.
No doubt Moyes knows what is wrong with this squad and will try to rectify as much of it as he can in one window. But I think next season will be more about consolidation within the PL and avoiding any further relegation battle trauma. We are at the start of a new era with a new stadium and a new ownership regime. But we must not get carried away like we did at the start of the Moshiri era. We cannot expect to go from relegation dodgers to challenging for CL places overnight. We need a proper plan and the means to carry it out.

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