David Moyes has spoken positively about the exploits of Carlos Alcaraz, who played a major role in the win over Fulham
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Carlos Alcaraz of Everton celebrates with fans after Beto of Everton (not pictured) scores his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Everton FC at Craven Cottage on May 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with Everton fans after Beto makes it 3-1 at Fulham on Saturday(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
David Moyes said he had been “impressed” with Carlos Alcaraz after rotating through his attacking options across recent games. The 22-year-old played a crucial role in each of Everton’s goals in the 3-1 win at Fulham.
Alcaraz started that game in a central attacking role after being given a stint in that position in the second half against Ipswich Town seven days earlier.
Moyes feels he is now getting to understand the strengths of the player and has been increasingly positive about the Flamengo loanee in recent weeks.
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Alcaraz would like to stay on Merseyside and his impact at Craven Cottage strengthened his case for the Blues to make his move a permanent one.
Alcaraz initially made a positive impression following his move from Brazil at the start of February. The former Southampton and Juventus man delivered a match-winning performance at Crystal Palace weeks later and was influential in the away draws at Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Those displays unfolded with Alcaraz operating in the middle of the pitch, sometimes as a number 10, sometimes in a deeper-lying role.
His prominence then reduced after Premier League survival was effectively secured and with the return of Iliman Ndiaye from injury.
Moyes started to look at the loanee on the left wing, partially due to the importance of Abdoulaye Doucoure to the midfield, and remained unsure over his plans for Alcaraz and so was careful to retain control over his loan deal, which stipulated the move would be made permanent should he make nine starts.
That possibility ended when he was not part of the first XI against Manchester City last month and, since then, his minutes have increased and he has now started the last two games.
Evertoncan still make the move a permanent one for a fee of around £12m and recent opportunities have been part of work by Moyes to explore his squad ahead of what is set to be a busy summer in which he plans to overhaul his attacking unit. The Blues boss has been pleased with what he has seen, even though there have been difficult periods in each match.
Against Ipswich Town, Alcaraz started on the left as Moyes operated with three number 10s - with Ndiaye in the middle and Dwight McNeil on the right.
This started as an attempt to view Ndiaye in the middle and Moyes thought he was “fine for his first look there” but would have liked to have seen him in more goalscoring positions.
At the start of the second half, Alcaraz went central and although Everton were unable to find the third goal needed to kill the game and prevent the comeback that followed, he was happier with that period of the match than much of the first half, in which the hosts scored twice.
While the Blues were unable to win that game, what happened added more depth to Moyes’ understanding of players like Ndiaye and Alcaraz, whose cross had led to Beto’s header for the opener.
Reflecting on his attacking experiment in that match, Moyes offered insight into his thought process on ‘Charly’ Alcaraz. He said: “Charly, I think, is probably a little bit better coming from behind the ball than he is maybe with his back to goal.
“In the times in the games he's played, he's broken things up, he’s broken through and played passes and ran through. We could have easily played Charly in the 10 [against Ipswich] and played Ili on the left, we could have done it that way. We could've played Dwight in the 10 and put Charly out a wee bit on the right.
“But it was a game against Ipswich and I thought that in the end we probably played with nearly three number 10s. We tried to work it a little bit like that. We got some joy early on. But we probably played better at the start of the second half but we didn't get the goal to make it. When they got the second goal it sort of took the wind out of us… I'm trying to see what they can offer in the roles.”
What happened at Goodison influenced the approach in west London days later. Of those three attacking midfielders only Alcaraz retained his place in the starting line-up.
And this time he was back in the central role from which he had been most effective in an Everton shirt.
Moyes was disappointed with much of the miserable first 45 minutes from his team but acknowledged the game-changing equaliser in first-half stoppage time came from Alcaraz’s endeavour as he leapt on an error at the back to seize the ball and create the attack Vitalii Mykolenko scored from.
He won the corner for the second and then created the third for Beto and he could have had an earlier assist had Jack Harrison found a way past Bernd Leno when played forward by his friend and team-mate.
Alcaraz left the pitch to an ovation from the away end and held the badge as he saluted a fanbase that has quickly grown attached to him. He had earlier celebrated the third goal in among the fans.
After the match Moyes, who did also praise Ndiaye and McNeil for their impact from the bench, said: “I was impressed with Charly. I thought he did a lot of good things. I wasn't so sure in the first half, for the best part of the first half, but he helped win the ball, which led to the goal, and he obviously made the pass for Beto as well, or the final pass for Beto for the third goal. So yeah, it was good.”