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Everton boss David Moyes on their recent good form boosting hopes of making Europe and the injuries hitting his squad ahead of their Premier League clash with Chelsea
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
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00:00Good afternoon everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against Chelsea.
00:20We'll start off with that one. Thanks Andy. Afternoon David. You're in good form. Four wins from the last five matches
00:27and those wins achieved with a clean sheet, it's always a good base to build on defensively, sound, with that exception of Newcastle I suppose.
00:37You play good teams in the Premier League and it can happen. We're pleased with a lot of the things we're doing. We want to keep it going.
00:46We want to get in a strong position and keep challenging near the top if that's possible.
00:51Your away form has massively improved David. I don't know whether you're aware but since you took charge again at the club,
00:56no Premier League team has won more away games than Everton, so that must please you immensely.
01:03Have Arsenal not won more than us?
01:04We've got more points.
01:05Yeah, but there you go, you've given me more points, more, one more.
01:09Well, that's great because obviously the situation we were when we came in, we hadn't given many points at the time.
01:17So it shows you what the players have been capable of and they continue to do so.
01:21Their work and their effort and their resilience at times has been impeccable.
01:26I hope we can keep it going and obviously we've got a huge opponent against Chelsea to play but we look forward to it.
01:35I suppose you're very much aware of the stat that gets rolled out every time you go to Stamford Bridge.
01:38Not one there since 1994, so no better time than to put that to bed given the form that you are in on the road.
01:45Well, it got rolled out about Bournemouth and it got rolled out about Man United a few weeks ago, so we have to accept it, you know, that's right.
01:53Chelsea have been, Chelsea Football Corp have had some brilliant teams over many years and some great managers and great players,
02:01so it's always been difficult to beat them and no difficult now, no different now, I should say.
02:06What have you made of their form of light? It seems to be a little indifferent.
02:11Are you talking about the world champions? Is that what you're talking about?
02:14So, sorry that you're talking about the world champions being a little bit out of form.
02:19Look, they've done amazing, haven't they? Really, Chelsea.
02:22They were getting criticised a little bit for a way they were going about their business, but they brought in some great players.
02:28So, you know, I don't know everything about Chelsea, but they'll look as if they're going in the right direction.
02:35I know you're a couple of points off the top four. It's a big month ahead, I suppose, a big couple of games coming up,
02:40but you're going to play a number of those matches without a couple of really influential players in Ilimanadjai and Idrissa Garnagay.
02:48Are they due to go next week? Is this their last weekend?
02:51Yes, as I think it is for every African player at any club. It's not just their club which is having to do that.
02:56But I think we have to respect completely the African Nations Cup and the players have to go and play in the tournament for their countries.
03:03They're rightly so. It's a great thing that they get selected for their countries.
03:09So we hope they do well. Obviously, I don't think it's anyone which has ever pleased any managers in any football clubs that we have to let them go.
03:16But that is it. We wish them well, but we've got them for this game and then they'll go off to Africa.
03:24Players' absences or other players' opportunities, of course. So the likes of Tyler Dibling must be itching to get regular run-outs.
03:33Yeah, there's a few. Charlie Alcaraz and Dwight McNeil, quite a few in there who are all keen to get selected and put in the side.
03:41So they'll all be used, I've got no doubt about that, in the coming weeks and months.
03:46Keenan Jonesby-Hull goes back to Stamford Bridge. He must be relishing that prospect. He's been excellent for you.
03:51What has he brought to your team, David?
03:53Well, he has been excellent. That's the first thing I would say. He's brought some goals and assists as well.
04:00He's just brought us a little bit more calmness at different times. He's looked a really comfortable footballer and has been even when he was at Leicester, even at Chelsea, he did show that as well.
04:11So I think he maybe just needed a little bit more attention, a little bit more love. The supporters have taken to him greatly here. He's done great for the team here.
04:20So we know we're pleased with him. We really are. He's worked out well and long may that continue as well.
04:27Any injury news in terms of the game for tomorrow? Any progress on Jarrod?
04:33Look, Jarrod and Merlin are back on the grass and doing some work. Merlin is obviously much further on than Jarrod, but they're both back on the grass now.
04:45Hopefully, we're starting to see a chance that we get them back soon. Obviously, with the two boys you mentioned earlier about the African nations,
04:52us getting Merlin back at least would be a big help.
04:56I know you're always looking to strengthen, David, but is the January transfer window an area that you would look to and any specific areas that you'd want to strengthen in?
05:06Of course we would. If we think there's players who would suit or players we could get or players were affordable,
05:12I think we would certainly be in that position to do so. I think the ownership want to keep climbing and trying to keep moving forward.
05:19We certainly do, but also it becomes a little bit more difficult about January just getting the right players and are they available, etc.
05:28OK, thanks very much. Thank you. Thanks, Alan. We'll go to John Teer, Premier League Productions.
05:32Good afternoon, David. I briefly touched upon the Newcastle game a few moments ago. How impressed are you with the character that your side has shown since then and to produce the results the way you have as well?
05:43I think the biggest compliment I could give them in the Newcastle game was out of character. That would be the biggest positive I'd say about them,
05:50because I think in the main the boys here show great character every week. They try to be resilient, they try to play well, they really do.
06:00They're good trainers. There's lots of things we can improve on, we know that and maybe in time we will, but at the moment I can only say good things to the players.
06:12I've not been here a year yet, but the time I have been here, they've done brilliantly well.
06:17Teeno Barry got his first goal, finally. What's his mood been like and what's your challenge to him now to really go and crack on?
06:26Well, I think his mood's changed greatly, but I'd sensed it for a little while. I think he's settling in, he's training better,
06:34he's looking a lot more comfortable in a lot of situations and a lot of actions he's involved in. So I was pleased to get the goal, because, no, not probably, but you'll be judged as a number nine probably by the goals you get and what you do.
06:50But he's shown that he's a good team player. He's certainly beginning to look a lot more settled. He's speaking a bit more than he did before.
06:57I don't know if it was getting more confidence with his English or just generally getting more confident. But the goal has hugely made a difference by the looks of it as well.
07:08You talk about Chelsea world champions, as you put it. What's the biggest threat they pose to you this weekend?
07:15I think they're attacking players, what they've got. I mean, they've got four wingers who can play, you never know what one's going to play.
07:25Probably maybe one of England's top players in Cole Palmer, you know, if he's available. So they've got a really, really big attacking side in what they've got available to them,
07:38the amount of players they've got for those roles and can change them around quite regularly.
07:42So I think that will be the biggest issue for us is dealing with Chelsea's sort of attacking intent.
07:47Thank you David, best of luck. Thank you.
07:49Thanks John T, we'll go to Julia at Radio Merseyside.
07:52Hi David. You mentioned there about the run that you've been on, so the Manchester United result, it was a win in difficult circumstances.
08:01The Bournemouth fixture is often being seen as a problematic one for Everton and you got the win there.
08:06Do you feel pleased you're changing the narrative and going into this, does that help?
08:10Yeah, well I've got quite a lot of them to do, whether I've ever been as a manager, you've always get clubs and teams you go to and you say,
08:16I've struggled to get a win there, there's been some grounds who I've won quite regular at.
08:23But Chelsea's always been a really difficult one as well, just one of the number of clubs who sometimes you find it hard to win it.
08:33But I think we go there in a good place, we'll go there in good spirits, we go there with the feeling that we'll go and give it a go and see how we got on.
08:41But ultimately you've got to remember we're up against, I don't know how much they've spent and how much their players are worth,
08:47but certainly they've got a bundle of players who are incredibly talented.
08:52There's been a lot of praise for the relationship on the pitch of Jack Grealish, Kieran Dewsbury Hall, Illiman NDI and how it's working at Everton.
09:01I just wondered, do you expect it to work that quickly when you put those players together and how much more, I appreciate Illiman's going for a little bit,
09:08but how much more is there to come from that midfield?
09:11Well, in a way, I would probably say yes, because I thought that with Grealish's Premier League experience, Kieran Dewsbury Hall, Premier League experience,
09:20it's a bit like when you're bringing boys in from other countries or different leagues, they may settle in well or they may not.
09:26And you've probably seen it here over the years at different players, but maybe even more recently.
09:30But I think those two having the Premier League experience made a difference.
09:34I think Illy played really well. I thought in the second half of the season he got goals and he looked a bigger threat.
09:42I think the bigger thing for Illy was did we think he could play on the right-hand side if we brought Jack?
09:46And I think he's shown that he can play both on the right and the left, which has been huge for us
09:50because it's meant that we've been able to use him and Jack at the same time.
09:56So, I think the three of them, they've not surprised me, no, because they've got Premier League experience,
10:02but it's just never easy going to a new club.
10:04I think Kieran Dewsbury Hall is the one who's probably stood out because he's got the goals and assists.
10:08So, as I said earlier, I hope that continues.
10:11With that Premier League experience then, when you are looking at players, you mentioned there, Tiano Barry,
10:16he's got his goal and you're seeing that difference in the mood and things.
10:19And it's difficult, isn't it, for fan bases to be patient with players sometimes,
10:23but is that the perfect example then where you have players that have already got that Premier League experience
10:27and just sometimes you have to wait a little bit longer?
10:29Yeah, absolutely.
10:31I think that us as a club, if you look at the position we've been in over the last recent years,
10:35I think we were desperate for Premier League experience.
10:38Players who could play in the league, players who knew the league,
10:41could make sure that we were keeping away from the wrong end if possible.
10:45We had a big turnaround in the summer, so we had to make sure that some of those players had Premier League experience.
10:51And even now, getting into all the future windows at the moment, we still need that
10:55because we're not ready yet to go and pluck out all the best youngsters.
10:58I mean, Chelsea and the Maine have gone and plucked out youngsters from Brazil and all over the place
11:04and picked out some great players.
11:05They've also picked out some young British boys as well.
11:08But in the Maine, I think most of their work has been done overseas,
11:13but they had probably a base of Premier League experience players,
11:16which we needed to make sure that we were a Premier League club first and foremost.
11:21So, Tierno's one of many overseas players who come in who could take a little bit.
11:27But I signed quite a few boys, as you well know from the Championship in the early days.
11:31It took them sometimes six months to get in the team.
11:34So, sometimes sitting back and watching it does them no harm.
11:37So, we're looking forward to seeing Tyler in the future and Tierno Barry scoring more goals.
11:42Nottingham Forest this week have contacted the PGMOL about James Tarkovsky.
11:46I just wondered, do you get notified of that and just your view on that?
11:49I've only read what you've probably read, but I've not heard then from joining my secretary or anything like that.
11:55So, I don't know. I mean, I think the decision was made on-field.
11:59Very rarely the FA alter what they do or what they think.
12:03So, well, that's the way I see it anyway.
12:07Thank you. Good luck.
12:08Thanks, Julia. We'll go to Carl at the Press Association.
12:12Hi, Carl.
12:13If someone had said to you at the start of the season that two weeks before Christmas you'd be a point behind Chelsea and a win outside the top four, what would have been your response?
12:23Yeah, I would have said it would be amazing. It was what I was probably dreaming and hoping that we could probably do.
12:30But if you saw, we were quite slow in the summer. We didn't get things done maybe as quick as I would like and we were a little bit short when we went to America.
12:38So, it wasn't looking quite as strong at that time, but credit to the people around the club who got us the players then and helped us.
12:47But I have to say the big thing was, and I know he's not played, signing Jared Bransway, we've re-signed Jordan, we've got Tarkey.
12:54You know, we've kept a nucleus of the boys who've done really well here, I think, over recent years under Sean as well and had to come through the difficult times.
13:04So, we want to now sort of build on that and use it as sort of the building blocks to get better.
13:09And I think with the likes of Kieran and Jack, you know, Tierno as well and Tyler, I hope those boys all go on to be good players in the future.
13:18Considering the respective budgets of the two clubs, how do you view how the gap has been bridged so far?
13:27I was at the moment, you've obviously closed the gaps at the moment, but how do you view, from your point of view, how you've done it?
13:32Yeah, I don't know what they, I don't know what you do.
13:34We've got lots of data, people now around the place, how they would see it.
13:37Chelsea have been a point more than us, you know, about the difference in the spend.
13:41I don't know where that would be and how it would be seen.
13:44But look, we're pleased, we've picked up, we've been on a good run and we know it could easily change.
13:49You know, you can lose, the way the Premier League is, you could win four out of five.
13:53It could go the other way in this league, you know, and it wouldn't necessarily mean that you're doing that badly.
13:57I just think the league is so tight.
13:59But if we want to keep, if we want to keep ourself in and around it, we're going to have to keep picking up big results
14:05like we did at Old Trafford, like we did at Bournemouth and, you know, winning a game against Nottingham Forest at home.
14:10We're going to have to keep trying to pick up those results.
14:14And we hope we can keep it going at the moment.
14:16I know we're about to lose the two boys, Ganna and Ellie, after the weekend.
14:19But hopefully some of the other boys, the likes of Charlie, Tim have had some minutes and Dwight,
14:25and they'll all be ready to start.
14:27Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
14:32No?
14:33No?
14:34Okay.
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