How did Sunderland manage to sign Noah Sadiki?
Sunderland host Everton in the Premier League on Monday evening
The Scot was in charge at the Stadium of Light for the 2016/17 campaign, but could do nothing to prevent the Black Cats from slipping out of the top flight. Now back in the division after an eight-year absence, Regis Le Bris’ men are flying high, and are currently fourth in the table after nine matches.
And it is within this context that Moyes returns to Wearside for the first time with his Toffees side on Monday evening. Speaking ahead of that match, he admitted that even though things didn’t pan out as planned in the North East, he still has fond memories of his time there.
What did David Moyes say about his time at Sunderland?
Asked about his tenure with Sunderland during a pre-match press conference on Friday, he said: “I had a really good time. I loved being up there. Difficult in as much as that we didn't do so well, but overall, I had a really good time at Sunderland. It was a good club. Maybe at that time we were just a little bit on the back end of a difficult period. No, it was a good time. I had no problem with that. Just disappointed that we didn't do a bit better.”
It was also put to Moyes that maybe it was a case of the right club at the wrong point in his career, to which he responded: “I think possibly it was in some ways. But overall, I think in management you have to experience different opportunities. I explored the one at Sunderland. Unfortunately, we didn't get things to go for us. I look back at it with disappointment. Sunderland have moved on and I've moved on since then as well.”
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Reflecting on the parallels between the Black Cats and Everton, he continued: “We're in a city where we're a really good team in Liverpool, which we have to be competitive with. Sunderland, if you work up at Sunderland, you've got to be competitive with Newcastle United. You can see how well Newcastle United are doing, but Sunderland are challenging them this year. Over the years, we've challenged Liverpool in the city here and maybe not recently. Maybe the same with Sunderland. Sunderland maybe recently haven't challenged Newcastle. Hopefully, both Sunderland will challenge Newcastle and we'll challenge Liverpool a little bit as well.”
Monday will also represent Jordan Pickford’s first return to his boyhood club since leaving to sign for Everton, and Moyes took the time to speak about the England number one’s personal growth over the past few years too.
He said: “He's hugely developed since then [leaving Sunderland for Everton] because he's come on greatly. Personally, he's done a lot of really good things. As a young boy, he was an outstanding young goalkeeper. Most teams in the country would have been interested in him at the time. Everton got him early and he's gone on to be a really good servant for Everton. I think he's improved year on year. The proof is in the pudding. The amount of clean sheets he's tended to keep in the Premier League season recently has been very good.”
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