David Moyes is “desperate” to add more quality in attack as his side laboured and languished in the 1-0 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday night.
It was a dispiriting performance from the Toffees in their season opener. Although the makeshift backline looked solid until a “bizarre” penalty call from referee Chris Kavanagh effectively decided the game, there were little forays into the opposition box.
Despite signing Charly Alcaraz, Thierno Barry, Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, among others, during this transfer window, the Toffees are still without a natural attacker on the right wing.
Speaking after the loss to Leeds United, Moyes complained, “The attacking players, we are desperate to get more quality. But let's be fair, it's something I think I've been saying for a while that I'm having to try and find ways of getting that better.”
While they did have half-chances here and there through James Tarkowski, Jake O’Brien and Alcaraz, the side created little danger of note. They effectively had zero xG in the entire first half and their first shot on target was after 75 minutes.
The Everton boss’s first change of the night was also left late. Jack Grealish came on at the 70th-minute mark to replace Tim Iroegbunam. When asked whether Grealish was ready to start a match yet, having been left out of Manchester City’s summer schedule, Moyes said, “Jack's trained really well. I want to try and bring him in at the right time. I don't want us to put him out there and the expectations be too high, too quickly for him.
“I think if you look into it, I think he's very rarely played two games in a row, he's rarely played three games in a row, so if you actually look into his history you'll find that he's not done that, so we'll have to bring him on and we'll need to do it at the right times.”
While Moyes was disappointed with referee Chris Kavanagh’s penalty decision, he also accepted his side’s poor performance and that they deserved little from this match. Injuries to Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko led to a major defensive shakeup and James Garner slotted in at left-back.
“We had to play someone there,” said Moyes.
“Well, look, we've lost two of our better players that were in the back four, so that happens. Other teams will lose players at different times of the season. We've lost a couple at the start here, which is a blow.”
Curiously enough, Adam Aznou, the teenage left-back signed from Bayern Munich, was missing from Everton’s squad despite the injury to Mykolenko. Asked whether either Mykolenko or Aznou would be available for the match with Brighton at the weekend, Moyes said, “I don't know. I'll tell you when I find out.”
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Posted 19/08/2025 at 14:14:34
Hes such a twat. Is Aznou injured and if not why was he not played
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