Never mind, lads. I'm sure Andy Hunter will be back to write another Moyes puff piece soon.
Read the Echo report on the aftermath, like a competition to find as many excuses as humanly possible in a one minute read.
Everton can't avoid honest conversations now as Moyes belief faces transfer test
The verdict from a sobering afternoon at Hill Dickinson Stadium as Everton crashed out of the FA Cup on penalties to Sunderland
View Image
Moyes must shoulder some of the responsibility for the frustrating run of results - not just from this week but for the missed opportunities that preceded them. Could he have acted before the collapse against Wolves, for instance? Was he too cautious at Burnley or too experimental at Wolves in the Carabao Cup loss there?
They are fair questions to ask but only if they are set within the proper context. There is only so much he can do and on too many occasions he has been let down by his squad, whether by its lack of depth, lack of talent in key areas or, as has been the case in a troubling number of matches, the decision-making of influential players at big moments - including that of
Michael Keane and
Jack Grealish, whose red cards on Wednesday night took them both out of a marquee fixture that offered the chance for some real fun and excitement in this first year of what should be the club’s bright new future.
The wider perspective is, of course, relevant.
Moyes and the club’s new owners the Friedkin Group inherited an institution in crisis, one that was creaking between games and pay-cheques and had been in survival mode for what felt like an eternity. That just 12 months later a cup defeat should be the catalyst for soul-searching is itself a sign of progress - Everton have not had the freedom for introspection and reflection at this stage of the season for some years. The transformation that has already taken place must be acknowledged by even the harshest critics of a start to the new year that has hit trouble before the final box of Christmas chocolates has been engorged.
The Scot does not want this wretched week to end this season though. His belief is that Everton should remain ambitious and be prepared to strike if, in a congested
Premier League table, the chance to take a shortcut to significant further progress emerges. Moyes has seen first hand what European football can do to a club not used to it and spent the summer complaining that so many of his preferred transfer targets rejected Everton’s advances because they, unlike nine league rivals, could not offer midweek exploits on the continent.
If the whole club is to share Moyes’ belief that an unmissable opportunity could still present itself then this month needs to be spent proactively. The noises from behind-the-scenes have so far pointed to a cautious window, one in which the club is prepared to strike if a good deal becomes available, not one in which those in power feel there is a desperate need to act.
It is fair to note that Everton have a lot of good players due to come back, most before the end of this month. They still have a ceiling to their potential though - their return will not solve the desperate longstanding issue at right back, there can hope but not expectation that
Thierno Barry or Beto will find a ruthless streak and, while Moyes praised
Adam Aznou for his match-changing cameo, his post-match comments did not suggest he saw him as an immediate solution to the lack of thrust from left back that is curtailing
Jack Grealish’s impact.
There is good sense in the approach of those who wish to keep their powder dry in a tough month to do business. Sustainable progress will take time and multiple windows - and multiple years - to achieve. Patience will be required if Everton are to become the club everyone associated with them wants them to be.
But if that ideology is to win this battle then everyone must be on the same page for the second half of this campaign. Everton did big business in the summer but part of the recruitment saw investment in young, project players. The evidence so far is that Moyes is unwilling to rely on the likes of
Tyler Dibling,
Carlos Alcaraz,
Merlin Rohl and
Aznou when he has had the fortune to look elsewhere in his squad.
If he is not to be backed this month then it is hard to make an argument against the second half of this season being an exploration of the potential Everton already possess. There may be a few million pounds of award money and a little bit of extra confidence and swagger that comes with finishing in the top half of the table. More valuable to finishing ninth would be to enter the summer having figured out how to get the most from those younger players though - including youth talent
Harrison Armstrong, who with Aznou was not just impressive on Saturday afternoon but who, with the maturity of his performance, embarrassed a good number of more senior and more expensive teammates. Take it further - Jake O’Brien is clearly the future of Everton at centre back, should
Jarrad Branthwaite return towards the end of this month as anticipated, there is sense in seeing whether they can develop a partnership that could be the foundation for success for the next decade at the club.
Everton’s ability to grow last summer was impeded significantly by the number of outstanding issues that had been left until the last moment to be dealt with. If the decision now is to step out of the furore of the battle for Europe then the first half of this year has to be seen as a chance to lay a strong foundation for this summer and the season beyond it.
These conversations are necessary because of the disappointment of the defeat to Sunderland.
A loss on penalties is no disgrace for Everton or Moyes given the scarcity of players he had at his disposal. The visitors bossed this for the first hour and Enzo Le Fee’s first half goal was the latest to flow from calamitous set-piece defending yet Everton did show courage to force their way to extra time. They did so when
James Garner converted a late penalty won by Aznou, whose rare exposure to the first team was so impressive it only served to highlight the strange decision to have used him so sparingly since he joined from Bayern Munich in the summer.
Article continues below
To reach penalties with a team that hit the 120th minute with three players schooled at Finch Farm on the pitch should be the source of credit and pride. Yet this was another match in which too many players failed to perform for too long and the shambolic penalty shootout, which saw Garner, Beto and Barry all have their efforts saved by Robin Roefs, was another reminder that Moyes can only do so much before his players have to take accountability for their struggles. Too many players have not performed for him when given their chance.
This shootout nightmare meant a terrible week for Everton ended in a miserable fashion. The real challenge now is to ensure the rest of the season is not wasted.
