Chris Beesley compares David Moyes’ Everton transfer dilemmas to his own travel issues in his latest tour diary
If ever there was a moment that displayed the discrepancies in the resources at the disposal of Everton manager David Moyes and his Manchester United counterpart Ruben Amorim, it came midway through the second half of the latter’s first game in the opening round of Premier League Summer Series double headers when he changed his entire 10 outfield players.
Despite – incredibly given the amount the pair of them have spent in recent years – finishing above both of his former employers in this competition, Manchester United and West Ham United in the Premier League last season, such luxuries are not afforded to the Blues boss. They came 15th and 14th respectively in 2024/25, but the Red Devils and the Irons each had 15 substitutes named at the MetLife Stadium while Bournemouth had 14.
Everton in contrast named the now standard Premier League number of nine but two were goalkeepers, five were 21 or under (including three yet to make their competitive debuts for the club) and another, Tyler Onyango, who did come on to replace the team’s midfield linchpin Idrissa Gueye spent part of last season on loan at third tier Stockport County. No wonder Moyes felt unable to ring the changes and take off more of those who were melting in the July New Jersey heat.
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It’s often said that results don’t really matter in pre-season, but you don’t want to be on the wrong end of an embarrassing pasting with a large American audience and all the Blues back home paying close attention and 3-0 was bad enough. After remaining tight-lipped and not speaking after the first two friendlies in Lancashire against Accrington Stanley and Blackburn Rovers, Moyes of course has set the agenda himself on this side of the Atlantic when it comes to talking transfers.
His bold “nine or 10 figure” includes the three new faces he’s already got through the door but that still leaves a remaining six or seven. Of course, out of that trio he’s already snapped up, Charly Alcaraz was already at Everton on loan during the second part of last season while goalkeeper Mark Travers is expected to serve as understudy to Jordan Pickford who has played 107 consecutive Premier League matches and from signing for the club from Sunderland in 2017, built up a sequence of 120 straight outings until October 2020.
Back in his first spell in charge at Goodison Park, some labelled Moyes as “Dithering Davy,” when it came to transfer recruitment but that was grossly unfair and in reality he was more “Diligent Davy,” when it came to doing the hard yards himself in terms of scouting potential targets. Famously, he watched Joleon Lescott play for Wolverhampton Wanderers no fewer than 24 times before he decided to give the green light.
Such prudence, at a time when funds were often tight, proved fruitful as the big Brummie defender arguably produced the best three seasons of his career in royal blue before his acrimonious exit to Manchester City in 2009, albeit for a profit of over 400% on what the Glaswegian paid for him. Of course, 2006 – unlike 2003 when he snapped up Nigel Martyn, Kevin Kilbane, James McFadden and Francis Jeffers on transfer deadline day – was the summer in which Moyes was able to get his business done refreshingly early.
Lescott signed on June 14 having already snapped up Andrew Johnson for a then club record £8.6million from Crystal Palace on May 30 and Tim Howard on a second-long loan on May 9. Such swift business allowed the new signings to integrate into the squad and was rewarded with a sequence of results that brought just one defeat from Everton’s first dozen matches, a run that included the 3-0 thrashing of neighbours Liverpool – the Blues’ biggest Merseyside Derby win for 42 years.
No wonder Moyes – like many in his club’s fanbase – is getting frustrated with how long it is taking to get more transfers over the line. It is of course a fine balancing act because as well as being the right deal, you also need to get the right player and while they are now benefitting from their increased financial muscle provided by The Friedkin Group and a move away from PSR restrictions, Everton need to tread carefully in order to avoid any repeats of the reckless spending so often witnessed under previous owner, Farhad Moshiri. When you’re a club in the Blues’ position though, when it comes to negotiating, things don’t always go to plan.
Having reported on Everton’s 3-0 loss to Bournemouth the previous day, on Sunday, after filing my follow-up copy, I decided to take in some local sport in the shape of attending a Major League baseball game at the famous Yankee Stadium in the Bronx where the home favourites edged out the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3. I’ve been to MLS games before in both Toronto and San Francisco, but this was by far the most enjoyable, and in my opinion, authentic of the experiences.
What made it for me was the presence of so many travelling away fans in the ballpark, a phenomenon you seldom see in US sports with the often vast geographical distances between teams and the fact in baseball that they play almost every day throughout the season. Unlike my former ECHO colleague Paul Snowdon who is a longtime Maghull-based fan of the San Diego Padres, I can’t claim to be an expert, but I do possess a rudimentary understanding of the sport and greatly admire some of the history and traditions of the game, so for those of you who don’t follow it, here is a quick scene-setter.
Major League Baseball is split into the American League, which the Yankees play in, and the National League, which the Phillies play in. For years, these sides never faced each other unless they won their own championship (pennant, a flag they get to fly for the privilege) and got through to contest the World Series. However, in recent decades, a certain amount of ‘inter-league’ play has been introduced and this was one such occasion with the away side, looking to complete a ‘sweep’ having beaten the Yankees in their own backyard on both Friday and Saturday.
Given that ‘The City of Brotherly Love’ is just 90 miles down the road – like Liverpool to Birmingham – there were substantial numbers of Phillies supporters inside the stadium and they made themselves heard when their side smashed their home runs into the stands. However, with a plane to catch and the start of proceedings already delayed by half an hour due to rain, I departed proceedings at the end of the sixth of nine innings.
There was no further score but I could have stayed until the end because my flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Chicago O’Hare was first delayed for five hours and then eventually cancelled due to bad weather in the Windy City. So, for now, my stay in the Big Apple continues, and like Moyes with transfer targets, you’ve sometimes just got to go with these situations and look for new opportunities.
