Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
New data has really put into context one David Moyes habit, and it is perhaps not something that’ll go down all that well with many Everton fans.
David Moyes is currently doing a great job with the Toffees in the face of adversity. He has been left with a very small squad after transfer deadline day, and yet has Everton up in seventh place in the Premier League, taking nine points from the first five games.
We did not hear too much from Moyes during pre-season, which perhaps indicated he wasn’t overly happy with how things were going. In recent weeks, he has appeared rejuvenated, potentially fired up by the situation Everton find themselves in.
With such a small squad, one would think Moyes will now be keen to rotate a lot more in games.
So far this calendar year, he hasn’t really done too much of that. Or at least when he does, it tends to come late on in games.
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David Moyes is the Premier League’s latest maker of substitutes in 2026
Last season, Evertonians often remarked how late Moyes would make substitutions in games.
There were several occasions when Everton were not in a winning position, but Moyes didn’t make changes until gone 60 minutes, sometimes even gone 70.
Everton finished the 2025/26 campaign with a seven-game winless run and one of the biggest bugbears for a lot of people was that the manager did not use his bench often enough and early enough.
And now some interesting data has emerged which puts this into context.
The Athletic reported yesterday the average times that teams have made substitutions in the Premier League – and Everton are recorded to have made the latest changes.
In 2026 in the Premier League, Everton’s average substitution time is 78.2 – no other club (of sides ever-present in the league for the calendar year) has made changes later, with Bournemouth the closest to the Toffees with 77.6.
The club that has the earliest average substitution time is Crystal Palace with 66.1.
Last season, as per The Athletic, Moyes made the fewest weekly changes to his starting line-up (1.5 per game), averaged the fewest substitutions (3.4 per game) and averaged the latest substitutions made (76th minute). He is clearly a man who likes to put trust in those he starts games with and gives them every chance to carry out the tactical plan he has devised for a particular game.
This term, we have again seen Moyes make changes late.
Against Crystal Palace, Moyes made four subs with the earliest coming on 79 minutes. Everton were already 2-0 up in the game.
At Bournemouth, Moyes made five changes. The first two came on 62 minutes, he made one on 70, and then two more on 87. Everton found an equaliser against the Cherries in the 91st minute through James Tarkowski.
Since Michael Carrick took over from Ruben Amorim, only Bournemouth and Everton have made substitutions later, on average, than Manchester United. The average time of his first change is also the third-latest in the Premier League. Is Carrick too slow to make subs and does he need to become more proactive? 📝 @reallycerys 🔗 https://t.co/3FraOnJiYU
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) October 7, 2026
Then there was the draw with Manchester United. Moyes made three changes, the first of which came on 66 minutes with Everton 1-0 down. Two more followed on 75 and 77 minutes, and Everton went on to draw 2-2.
Versus Tottenham Hotspur, the first of three changes came on 65 minutes, and against Ipswich he made two on 66 and 79.
But obviously, the Toffees have had a good start to the new season and are still unbeaten. So arguably there cannot really be any gripes about the way he’s done things.
However, some will suggest that Everton might be sitting on more than nine points if Moyes was more proactive.
As the season wears on, and factoring in Everton’s squad size, it could well be that this average comes down, as surely fatigue will start to set in and there’ll be more of a reason to make changes earlier.