How David Moyes masterminded Everton’s turnaround: ‘Relentless’ planning and a ‘hidden magic’

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The packed train, carrying hundreds of Everton supporters back from London, ground to a halt at Runcorn, allowing David Moyes, his staff and players to disembark to applause and cheers.

That moment emphasised the feel-good factor around the club since Moyes’ return in January. Back in August, a small but vocal group of fans had barracked members of the squad at Euston after the abject 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The mood change over the intervening eight months could scarcely have been more dramatic. Moyes took over from Sean Dyche in January, with Everton one point above the relegation zone after 19 games. In his half-season, he almost doubled his predecessor’s points total (31 to 17), quickly easing relegation concerns and securing a 13th-place finish.

There had been internal surprise at the extent to which Everton struggled in the opening half of the campaign, with some key figures viewing the squad as stronger than the one that achieved 48 points — prior to deductions — under Dyche the previous season.

By the time he left in January, everyone — including Dyche — seemed ready for a change. A common view espoused at the time was that the soul had drained out of the club and fresh impetus was imperative.

New owners The Friedkin Group felt experience was needed to preserve Everton’s Premier League status. In choosing Moyes, who had managed the club between 2002 and 2013, they banked not only on his know-how, but also his ability to bring everyone together.

His return rekindled the connection between team and fans, and wins quickly followed. After four victories in his opening six matches, Everton were effectively safe by the time they headed to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp in late February.

There were some sticky moments. Between February and early May, Everton won just one of their 10 league matches.

But Moyes and his team ended the campaign in style, bookending a 2-0 success against Southampton in their final game at Goodison with impressive away victories at Fulham and Newcastle United.

This is the story of that turnaround under Moyes, and how he did it.

With relegation a real concern, Moyes and his staff knew they had little time to settle in.

Their objective was simple: to keep Everton up before the summer move to a new stadium.

At that stage, it was felt the battle for survival would continue into the final month of the campaign. Yet Moyes and his staff, which includes assistant manager Billy McKinlay, Alan Irvine, Leighton Baines and set-piece coach Charlie Adam, believed they had key elements in their favour.

They knew from their experiences at West Ham United that Goodison could be a powerful force if harnessed properly. There was also a sense that they had inherited strong foundations, particularly defensively, from Dyche.

Moyes’ main priorities were addressing Everton’s chronic lack of goals — under Dyche, they managed 15 in 19 league matches — and the squad’s shortage of confidence.

“There were three or four things that he wanted to see and he put that in place quickly,” McKinlay tells The Athletic.

“The biggest emphasis was he wanted to play forward and make sure we had more threat in the final third. That means more numbers (across the board). He wanted to see some aspects of play he felt would benefit us in attack. Full-backs getting forward, people arriving in the box at the right time so we could cause teams problems.

“He also wanted to win the ball higher up the pitch. The first thing we felt was there was always a real aggression about Everton. He knows the club better than anybody and what works here.”

Some of Moyes’ tweaks were more noticeable than others. With first-choice striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin out with a long-term hamstring injury, Moyes looked for ways of getting the most out of his replacement Beto.

“The manager has tried to implement two or three things, looking at the players’ attributes and what will benefit them,” McKinlay says.

“Beto is a really good example, but I don’t want to just focus on him because all the players have been sensational. There’s not been a day that’s gone by where we’ve not had their focus, application and their commitment to the cause.

“The manager wanted to utilise Beto’s running power, his physical presence, his threat down the side and behind. It means playing forward through the lines and through the front, sometimes the most positive passes a player can see.

“We also wanted to help Beto by getting people closer to him. Doucs (Abdoulaye Doucoure) has done that really well. Wide players have then come in and filled the spaces and we’ve got the full backs forward. So Beto’s probably benefited from another number of small tweaks that he wanted.”

Moyes wanted to use Beto’s running power (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Beto excelled in the second half of the campaign, netting seven times in 16 games. But the attack in general was revitalised.

A previously shot-shy team scored 27 times after Moyes’ arrival. Their total from open play rose from seven to 18, while they also struck four times on the counter, compared to zero in Dyche’s half-season. Crucially, they also conceded 19 to Dyche’s 25.

Moyes also made key changes to the shape of his side and how he wanted to build from the back. It was felt that Ireland international Jake O’Brien, a £17m ($22.9m) summer signing from Lyon who had not started a league game under Dyche, could “offer something going both ways”.

“From a defensive point of view, Jake is obviously a terrific athlete in terms of his physical attributes,” McKinlay notes.

“The gaffer wanted to build in a certain way, which allowed us to keep hold of one of the defenders. We kept Jake back and pushed Myko (left-back Vitalii Mykolenko) on a bit, with rotation through the middle of the pitch, which just gave it a fresh look and feel. The players got a real benefit.”

The main focus has been on improving the collective. Moyes leads everything and maps out how he wants each week to look, but McKinlay, Baines and Irvine take individual sessions after training, offering feedback on where players can improve.

“Tactically, he covers everything,” McKinlay says. “His attention to detail with the opposition, what they’re going to do, how we’re going to counter that in and out of possession and cause them some problems is absolutely relentless.

“He’s been big on making sure players, on certain days, are getting enough specific stuff to help them improve. He wants them to feel that they’re getting individual work.

“When you put it together, hopefully you see a cross for a wide player and a finish for a centre forward, for example, and that might have been done during the week.”

In those group and individual sessions, Moyes and his staff have worked hard to raise confidence levels in the squad.

The process was one of analysis, feedback and repetition, with McKinlay taking the view that confidence comes from “preparation and an outcome” rather than simply “telling players you like them”.

“Jack Harrison is a good example,” he explains. “We saw the confidence coming back with him. Every time he does something more positive, he starts to forget about these inhibitions, the bits of insecurity or uncertainty.

Harrison in particular gained from the coaching staff’s input (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

“I always say to the players, ‘If we think we’re giving you a piece of information that’s going to help you improve, don’t take that as criticism. Take that as correction, an education. You should be happy with that’.”

Knitting it all together has been Moyes, who returned to Goodison 12 years after his first stint more experienced, flexible and having mellowed.

“He’s got a heavy tool bag in terms of attributes: his experience, knowledge of the game, preparation and attention to detail,” McKinlay, who was also his assistant at West Ham, says. “He’s got a feel for it and he’ll say things in the moment that maybe nobody else has thought about.

“That’s the hidden magic, what the managers are saying and when they say it. Sometimes there’s no script, it’s a feeling.

“He thinks about everything to the nth degree and if he thinks he has to adapt or change it in the moment, he’ll do that.

“There are times when he’ll change the day off, or he’ll change how he wants to prep, deliver certain messages. He’s constantly thinking, talking to us and asking how we see it. If we have to change, we will.”

Everton ended the season with a tangible sense of momentum.

With Moyes back, new owners in situ and the men’s team set to play in a new state-of-the-art stadium from next season, optimism has returned after years of decline.

A summer rebuild is coming, with 15 players out of contract at the end of the season. That may sound daunting to some, but it is also an opportunity for Moyes and TFG to reshape things in a different, altogether more positive image.

The challenge for Everton is to kick on, and Moyes has set the bar high.

“The yearning for success the club’s got, that’s what drives the gaffer,” McKinlay says. “So (it’s about) maintaining standards, improving the squad and making sure we continue to grow.

“The league’s getting stronger every year, we’re going to have to keep in touch with our peers and try and catch them.

“You’ve got bona fide Evertonians here who’ve got a real feel for it and know the club and the terrain. That’s not everything, but if you put that on top of their coaching ability, then it helps.

“They will not let the levels drop. They know what it means to be a good Everton player, a good Everton team. So, if you build on that, we’ve got a new stadium with 53,000 Evertonians in there who’ll shout the house down; you’re going to have to service that.

“The manager’s not come here to have anything other than success. Success is everything, bringing it (the club) back to the top end of the table.

“It’s built for success now, it’s ready for us.”

(Top photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

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