The Everton striker has spoken about how his manager has pushed him to improve since returning to the club
Beto celebrates scoring at Wolves (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
Everton forward Beto has provided more insight into his relationship with manager David Moyes. The Blues boss has been open in his desire to see the striker improve since returning to the club.
Moyes’ reappointment at Everton last season coincided with a return to form for Beto, who finished the campaign with eight Premier League goals — seven of them under the current manager.
However, Moyes has been critical of his forward at times. After the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in April, he was unhappy with a Beto mistake that led to the only goal of the game, while during the summer he made it clear he wanted to see more from the former Udinese man.
“I’ve been a bit disappointed with Beto and I’ve told him,” Moyes said during the pre-season tour of the United States. “We’re needing a bit more, and he can do more — and he has done more.”
Beto struggled in the opening game of the season at Leeds United but has bounced back well. He scored off the bench against Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup and netted the opening goal in the 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Speaking after that game to EvertonTV, the striker revealed the extent to which Moyes pushes him to improve.
“He’s a good man,” he said. “He’s a good person and he’s always trying to push me, you know?
“Sometimes he jokes around, ‘Beto, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ But he’s always trying to push me, and when I do something bad, he says, ‘You need to be tidy, holding the ball — set.’
“I know that I need to improve that, but he knows too, so it’s good to have him on my side.”
Speaking ahead of the Wolves game, Moyes conceded he was trying to push for more from the striker but was full of praise for his character.
“Let me tell you, he is an unbelievable lad. In training, he is very humble, self-effacing, he’s happy to laugh at himself, but to try and make himself better.
“So for all those reasons we think so much of him, because in what he’s doing he’s actually accepting that ‘I have to get better’. And let’s be fair, probably from where he started he has got unbelievably better from where he was.”
In the same press conference, Moyes also praised new signing Thierno Barry, who started the wins over Brighton & Hove Albion and Mansfield.
Speaking after the Wolves game, the Everton manager said he would likely rotate his forward options throughout the early weeks of the campaign.