David Moyes pointed to Tottenham’s huge summer spending after Everton battled their way to a 0-0 draw in north London.
Everton remain unbeaten in the Premier League this season after taking another point on the road, although Moyes readily admitted his side were not at their best with the ball.
Spurs dominated possession and put the visitors under pressure early on, but Everton grew into the game and created the better chances. Brennan Johnson, Thierno Barry and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all had opportunities to turn one point into three.
Moyes points to Tottenham spending
Moyes knows the financial gap between Everton and some of the clubs they are trying to compete with remains considerable.
“What excites me is that I have a job to try and prove a few wrong. We have had to come from behind because we don’t have all the tools to challenge the top teams.
“We have had to fight for everything in the league. We have shown we can do that too.”
Moyes then pointed directly to Tottenham’s spending as he explained the challenge facing Everton.
“I might have rather had £300-400m that Tottenham had to spend. But if you have not got that, you need to find a way to try and get a result, to win or take something from the games.”
That was exactly what Everton did.
It wasn’t especially pretty at times and Moyes wanted more from his players with the ball, but the numbers suggest they could easily have left with all three points.
Everton finished with 1.17 expected goals from 12 attempts compared with Tottenham’s 0.64 from 14. Spurs had 62 per cent possession but managed only two shots on target.
There are still holes in Moyes’ squad after a difficult end to the summer transfer window. He admitted before the Tottenham game that his ideal squad would contain 21 or 22 outfield players, rather than the smaller group he currently has to work with.
For now, though, Everton are finding a way. Four games into the new Premier League season, they remain unbeaten.
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