The Blues boss reflected on two months back on Merseyside and looked ahead at what he wants to achieve - and how he wants to get there
Comments
Sport
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 26: Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton and David Moyes, Manager of Everton, acknowledge the fans after during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Everton FC at Brentford Community Stadium on February 26, 2025 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Jarrad Branthwaite and David Moyes acknowledge the Everton fans after the 1-1 draw at Brentford
(Image: y Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
David Moyes is intent on finding stars who can mirror Everton’s rise up the Premier League table. The Blues boss is increasingly looking towards the summer squad rebuild and is firmly set on taking the club back into Europe.
Moyes' immediate impact has already led to a surge in form that means, for the first time in four seasons, there are no serious fears of relegation as Everton hit the spring.
Article continues below
Part of his attention is now on how to move the Blues further forward and back to the best years of his first stint on Merseyside, when his teams were regulars in European competitions and pushed for the top four.
READ MORE: Jesper Lindstrom responds to blunt David Moyes assessment and drops Everton transfer hintREAD MORE: David Moyes set to learn Armando Broja truth as Everton striker set for pivotal week
Reflecting on a whirlwind two months in which he has led Everton on a nine-match unbeaten league run that has taken them from the cusp of the bottom three to 17 points clear of trouble with nine games to go, he said: “I'm really enjoying being back. Obviously, you can tell when football managers enjoy it because they’re winning. That's the big thing. If I wasn't then I might have been thinking different.
“Generally, I think there's so many things which are good, but I think there's so many things that we're willing to try and improve again. We want to get back to where we were, if we can. I want to get back to at least the levels we were at when I was here before.
“That's the first thing. So I'm trying to get us back where we're competitive and in a better condition if we can, but it'll not be easy. There's a lot of things to do, recruitment and whatnot will be a big issue during the summer.”
The Blues face a reset at the end of the season, with headline changes to the football and business structures of the club and a squad in which more than a dozen players are currently due to leave.
Moyes has recent history of leading a club from relegation fears to Europe. His time at West Ham United saw him take the Hammers into the Europa League and the Europa Conference League, winning the latter competition.
Asked whether that experience with last weekend’s opponents provided him with confidence he could repeat the trick, he said: “I hope so.”
Moyes then pointed to the need for players who could help Everton on that journey. He said: “I was really fortunate, I had Declan Rice when we were avoiding relegation and I got him on the up. When we finished sixth in the league we had someone who was really climbing the ladder.
“We need that to happen here. We need exciting players here. People who England are talking about, I think when you get boys who are England internationals on the way up, I think they draw a lot of attention from the media, especially the British media.
Article continues below
“We need people like Jarrad Branthwaite and whoever else we can get to be making people think: ‘Hey, by the way, Everton are going in the right direction.’”