David Moyes is doing a sterling job at Everton – and arguably been vindicated in sticking to his guns about fielding more experienced players.
The Toffees currently sit just three points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, and have just produced one of their best performances of the season.
Surely everyone is Moyes in now? 🤔
David Moyes.
The victory over Chelsea was stunning to watch – and the performance that Hill Dickinson Stadium has been waiting for.
The club is in a very positive moment no doubt, and it’s come about thanks to a brilliant job by David Moyes.
He has not been without his critics though.
And one thing that a lot of fans have regularly demanded is to see younger Everton players in the squad given more starts.
David Moyes is being vindicated by turning to experienced heads
Everton have the oldest squad in the Premier League in terms of average age.
But there are several young and talented players in that Everton dressing room, such as Tyler Dibling, Adam Aznou, Harrison Armstrong, Merlin Rohl, Tyrique George and Tim Iroegbunam.
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As talented as they are though, it would seem that Moyes values experience much more.
Everton manager David Moyes cheers.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
In terms of starting XIs this season, only three teams have a higher average age than Everton (26.6), those being Burnley (26.6), Aston Villa (27.3) and Fulham (27.7).
Clearly, Moyes’ tendency to go with more experienced players is paying off.
The Toffees are firmly in the hunt for European football, and are even in with an outside chance of finishing in a Champions League spot at the moment.
The game against Chelsea was particularly interesting.
The average age of Everton’s starting XI was 29y 25d, while Chelsea was much lower at 24y 208d. And we all saw how it was basically men against boys.
Younger players to take back set for Everton run
Given Moyes has got Everton to this position by handing regular starts to more experienced players, it is likely that this pattern will continue in the coming weeks.
The likes of Dibling and George will be champing at the bit to start games.
But realistically, Moyes is probably not about to turn to them unless there are injuries or suspensions.
Hopefully though, they will see this as a challenge, and work extra hard in training to try and buy an unlikely start from the manager.
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