EXCLUSIVE: Everton will have a clear plan of how they want to deploy Jack Grealish under David Moyes reckons Kevin Kilbane
With four assists already from his first two Premier League starts, David Moyes will have a clear plan of how he is going to deploy Jack Grealish. That’s the verdict of former Everton left winger Kevin Kilbane.
Grealish, who in 2021 became the first £100million English player when he moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City, has come to Hill Dickinson Stadium on a season-long loan after becoming surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium under Pep Guardiola, but after a sensational start, the 29-year-old has been named on a list of eight candidates to be EA Sports Premier League Player of the Month for August.
Kilbane reckons his old gaffer Moyes gets the best out of the talent at his disposal through methods that get to the point.
The 48-year-old, who was a team-mate of the Scot when he started his career at home city club Preston North End, said: “I think David Moyes keeps things very simple for players, he doesn’t over-complicate his message, which every player appreciates, no matter what they say. I think over the course of his career, David has also really learned how to use his staff wisely in terms of how they filtered messages through to the players as well.
“I’ve known him since I was 15 or 16 years old, I’ve known him all my adult life. Although we’ve lost touch in recent times, I love watching how he’s done in his career and how he has rebuilt his reputation after many people questioned it, which was ridiculous in my eyes.
“He has a great understanding of what a player needs to get them ready on a matchday. That comes down to experience but even when he didn’t have that, he has a great idea of what it took to get a player prepared for a game, in terms of both the tactical and technical aspects, the training and the physicality to get yourself through 90 minutes.
“Even the quirky players, those who had something different, he had an ability to work with them. That’s why with someone like Jack Grealish, and some might question the signing, David Moyes will have a clear plan of how he’s going to use him and how he is going to get the best out of him.”
Kilbane played 121 games for Everton and netted five goals after being snapped up by Moyes, arriving at Goodison Park as part of a quartet on summer transfer deadline day in 2003, along with Nigel Martyn, James McFadden and Francis Jeffers, who returned on loan.
He was capped 100 times for the Republic of Ireland and therefore has a keen eye on Jake O’Brien’s progress. The Cork-born player was the Blues biggest signing of 2024, joining for £16.43million from French club Olympique Lyonnais but failed to start a Premier League game in the first half of last season under Sean Dyche.
He then became a regular in the side under Moyes, playing at right-back, a position he also occupied for his country – despite wearing the number five jersey – against Hungary at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night as the boys in green recovering from being 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in their World Cup qualifier thanks to Adam Idah’s stoppage-time equaliser.
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Kilbane talking to the ECHO on behalf of Casino.org, who rank the best online casinos, said: “I always remember when Joleon Lescott came in and David Moyes was playing him at left-back before he moved inside. He always liked a physical side, especially in the backline.
“So, in that respect, it’s not surprising that he’s played Jake O’Brien at full-back. Even in an Irish jersey, I hadn’t seen an awful lot of him, so we were all a little bit uncertain.
“I’d seen bits from Lyon when he’d played for them in the season before he signed for Everton and then under Dychey he never got the game time. I imagine it will have just been a simple message from David Moyes for Jake about what is expected from him to play in that position: ‘If you’re going to play in my side, you’ve got to do this and that well’.
“Jake, all 6ft 6in of him, is technically a very good footballer, he’s a good player. He can cope with the ball to play in that position as a modern day full-back but also he can compete physically.
“So, he’s got everything needed to be a success in a David Moyes side and being Irish I want him to be a success. I think there’s more to it than that, there’s more to him as a player and as a person who can get better as I believe he can develop and flourish under the manager.”.