- 2 days ago
Everton boss David Moyes previews their final Premier League game of the season against relegation threatened Tottenham and reflects on their season as a whole
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
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00:03Good morning everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against
00:07Tottenham. We'll start off with Vinny from Sky.
00:10David, first of all, congratulations to Jordan Pickford getting in the England squad. It'll
00:13be expected for the World Cup, but how do you feel about the club's player of the season,
00:17James Garner, missing out on that squad as well?
00:21I'm disappointed for Jimmy, but I've got to say I'm not surprised because I think their
00:25form in the last five or six weeks haven't encouraged MD to really go and focus on our
00:31players. I think when we were doing so well, Jimmy was a huge part of it. I think your
00:38team, your players need to be informed to attract the England manager to select you, so we have
00:44to take a bit of disappointment along with Jimmy as well that we've not been able to
00:49get him to the World Cup.
00:51You obviously still have that chance for a top half finish, so how are you feeling going
00:54into this final game about the season as a whole now?
00:58Overall, I think we would all accept that we've had a pretty drama-less free season. We've done
01:06a lot of really good things. The final months of the season still being competitive for the
01:11top end rather than the bottom end. We've not got a relegation play-off game or at the end
01:16of the season where we're having to win one of the games to stay up, not get that situation.
01:21So lots of good things, but I think there's a cloud hanging over me at the moment that I'm
01:26disappointed that we've not finished the last six games well enough or so and not played
01:33well enough or not got decisions which could have gone a long way to changing things. Because
01:38obviously we're only probably a couple of points out of getting into the last game, seeing if we win,
01:42you know, you'd be in a European spot. So, you know, when I just look back,
01:48a bit of form, I'll always look at that first and a couple of decisions have certainly not helped us.
01:53Aside from those decisions, when you talk about performances, what have you been able to
01:57pinpoint that has maybe seen your players not getting up to the levels that we've seen, you know,
02:01even going back to say the Chelsea game when you got yourself into a real strong position?
02:04Yeah, I don't think we've played particularly bad in any of the games. I just think that, you know,
02:08sometimes goals change the way you feel or, you know, you get a result, you know, you think
02:12much better about it. When you don't get it, then you start to look at it on the negative side.
02:17I don't think we've played that badly in the games. I just don't think we've been quite good
02:22enough to win them and that's obviously shown in the results.
02:26In terms of planning though for next season, can I just check on a few players? First of all...
02:30You can check, but I might not give you an answer.
02:33I get used to that, but Michelenko, anything close?
02:37Yeah, I think we're very close to something with Michelenko, yeah.
02:42Gone a gate, is it a straight-year option on him or is it a case of having to make
02:46so many
02:46starts this season?
02:48We'll make an announcement on that when we're ready to do so, yeah.
02:51I know Tyreek George, you said about budget, that obviously plays a part in whether he gets
02:57to take up the option on him. Anything clear?
02:59Yeah, well we've got two players on loan, Tyreek and also Jack, so obviously at the moment
03:06they go back to their clubs and we'll take it from there and as the summer goes on we'll
03:11decide what path we're going to take on both of them. We like Tyreek, obviously we like Jack
03:19a lot, but we'll not get an answer for you if you're going to throw me a Jack Grealish question
03:25in a minute or two as well. I've told you we've enjoyed having Tyreek here, he's been an excellent
03:30boy and he's worked great and everything's been excellent, so we're happy with him.
03:35Obviously the weekend is about getting the job done for yourselves, but you're also part
03:38of a scenario that could keep your old club in the Premier League as well, so what thoughts
03:42have you got on that given the time that you spent at West Ham? I take it you've possibly
03:45had a few phone calls this week?
03:46Yeah, possibly. I'd love to keep West Ham in the league if I can do, but it's more important
03:56that I get Everton that top half finish and we try and get a few more million pounds because
04:03of our league places, which is so important as well. So if we can do that, I think sometimes
04:09you don't look when you're in this position, you don't look at your league position until
04:13you're five or six years down, you look back and say, oh, finish 14th, well, the truth
04:18is you should have maybe finished 10th or 9th or whatever, so we've got to try and finish
04:22as high as we possibly can. But yeah, I really do hope that West Ham stay up.
04:27I just wondered if you've been able to offer your congratulations to McHale given your long-standing
04:32relationship with him, one of your former players?
04:35No, I've not done it yet because I know what it's like when you're in a situation where you
04:40win, you'll be inundated with a million messages and trying to get a reply to them is actually
04:46quite a strain at times. So no doubt I'm going to catch him up in the next few days before
04:52we all break up, really.
04:54Good luck.
04:55Thanks, Vinny. We'll go to Simon at Premier League Productions.
04:58Simon.
04:59Can I just ask you, fitness-wise, at least with Idrissa, might he, I know you said he was on
05:07the grass.
05:08Yeah, he's been on the grass. I would say there's probably a 50-50 chance that he could
05:15be involved. We'll know a bit more once we've trained and see him over the next couple of
05:21days. He's not trained with the team at the moment, so that would be where we're at with him.
05:25And just in terms of Jared and Jack, in terms of their rehab and everything that goes with
05:31it, will you still play a part of Jack's and is Jared essentially in for the summer to get
05:37him back?
05:37Yeah, Jared's making good progress, which you would expect, and moving on. They've all
05:44got programmes. Jared's got programmes certainly through the summer. We've looked after Jack
05:51really all the time since his injury and Jack's injury's coming on. He's had quite a bad break
05:56in his foot, which has been pinned and it's looking in good order. Now the surgeon's speaking
06:02very well about it, thinks it's healing greatly. Normally a player would go back to their parent
06:09club and be looked after from there, but we'll continue doing our best for Jack.
06:16Just in terms of the game this weekend, obviously an awful lot riding on it at your game and
06:22the one for West Ham as well. Is this going to be an opportunity? You know, sometimes you
06:28might have a look at the youngsters in the last game this season. Is it too big a pressure
06:33game for that to happen or is there a chance that it could be?
06:36Yeah, and also I think that we've got something we're still trying to play for. Whether it only
06:41be a top half finish or whether it be something else could fall into place, you never know.
06:47So we've got to go there and win it at Tottenham. I don't see it any other way. I'm not
06:51turning
06:52up with a team of kids and trialling all the players to give them the opportunity to see
06:56what they can do. They've had that opportunity during the season to show me if I think they're
07:01ready to play or not. So we're certainly going to Tottenham with a focus to try and get a result.
07:07I know you've touched upon it but you've already got more points than you had last
07:11season. That's obviously progression of sorts. Will the final play have more of an impact
07:18than the points or how do you look at that? Is it progression?
07:21Yeah, by the way there's no doubt that there's been progression of what we've done and we've
07:26kept ourselves away from really any problems. But I think we've got into the tickly bit at
07:33the end and we've not been able to deal with the tickly bit at the end because we've not
07:37finished off well enough. Now, as I say, it could be a bit of a misfortune not getting
07:43a penalty at West Ham. The one against Manchester City. I could go back and back but it's more
07:51to do with us. We've conceded a late goal in some games which have really taken the edge
07:56of us. But also we've missed a few chances as well. So we can only blame ourselves. We're
08:01not looking at MDLs but I want us to finish as high as we can so that we've got something
08:08to try and look to improve on for next year as well.
08:10So just finally, for me then, as far as your summer is concerned, will you be in here a
08:15lot, do you think, over the summer? Will you get the chance to get a break in your World
08:18Cup? I hope to be watching the World Cup, watching a lot of games in the World Cup when
08:23I can. But I want a break as well. I think when you've been doing it all season, I think
08:28any of the Premier League managers will tell you, you know, you really want to shut down.
08:32But we need a big summer. Again, as a football club, we need to have a big summer where we
08:37think we can build on it. Because we're showing that, you know, it doesn't take much, it just
08:42needs a couple of your better players to lose a little bit of form. And, you know, it can
08:47be, it can quickly change your results and how you do.
08:52Thanks, Simon. We'll go to Julia, Radio on the other side.
08:55Hi, David. Hi, Julie.
08:56Just on that there, on that last run that you've mentioned, and if you're saying, you know,
09:01sometimes decisions don't go your way and it can be a blow. Do you think then this sort
09:05of drop off at the end of the season has been a mental side of it? Has it been a
09:10physical
09:10side of it? Because statistically, your players have played a lot more. There's been fewer
09:14subs and people like James Garner, I think, have been running more than anyone else.
09:18Is it mental or physical then?
09:20Well, we've not played 50 or 60 games like the players who are playing like Aston Villa players
09:25or like the others. So, if you're asking me, that doesn't stack up one bit at all.
09:30I don't see where even that can be part of it. You know, players are playing 60, 70 games
09:36and whatnot and getting on with it. So, for us to have 38 games, 40 games maybe, I can't
09:42see that at all.
09:43When you say it's a cloud hanging over you a little bit, because you've thought about
09:48those results, have you been surprised at some of the reaction from some of the courts?
09:51Because after the Sunderland game, the stadium cleared out pretty quickly, didn't it?
09:54Yeah, I'm just telling you how I feel. I'm telling you that because I'm really disappointed
10:00that I've not been able to get as close and even onto the last day really without a realistic
10:05chance. Even if we got a result last week, which let's be fair, they had 0.7 XG, we had
10:120.8 XG. So, let's be fair, there wasn't a 3-1 defeat in the game, that's for sure. And
10:18what
10:19we did and that's the way we've sort of been recently. So, lots of reasons for us to be
10:27really happy with how we've gone and what we've done this season. But I think just the
10:31last week, just the last month or so has just made me feel not as good as what I felt
10:36for
10:37the majority of the season. Recruitment-wise in the summer, will you be looking for Premier
10:42League experience if you bring someone in? Is it youth? Is it experience? Is it senior
10:47players you're looking for? A bit of both. We've got a few different
10:52options and a few plans in place. Finances obviously play a big part in it, no doubt about
11:00that. So, we'll need to sort of navigate around the best we can. And Asnu, Dibling,
11:09Harrison Armstrong, I know he was on loan as well. They've probably not had the minutes
11:13that they would have wanted. In the summer, will you make a decision on them? Could they
11:16go on a season loan, for example? Yeah, at the moment not, you know, because the squad
11:22won't be big enough. So, we couldn't do that at the moment. So, we'd have to decide and see
11:27if we think there's any need to, but they're young, improving players. I think we saw that
11:33with Harrison, the benefit of him being in loan. It pressed him. He wouldn't have got the
11:38same minutes if he'd been here. So, I think from that point of view, you've got to try
11:42and judge it at the right moment when you can put the players out on loan, when you need
11:46them. We certainly needed Harrison back because we didn't have the players, we didn't sign
11:50any players in January. We only brought in Tyreke George on loan. So, we needed to get
11:57him back. And unfortunately, he played maybe five or six games after that, but not many
12:03more after that because he's up against good competition. Jimmy Gardner, who we've talked
12:08about in the likes of Kieran Dewsbury Hall as well. So, just again, I guess it was always
12:12going to be difficult for him to break into those players.
12:16Thank you. Good luck. Thanks, Julia. We'll go to Carl at the Press Association.
12:22Hi, David. Hi, Carol. Just to go back on Jack, I mean, it seems like he's been
12:26unavailable forever now. I just wonder if you can assess what influence he had for you when
12:33he was obviously fit and playing and how much of an effect that maybe had in the second half
12:38of the season. I think he helped us greatly at the start, that's for sure. I think there
12:45was a few questions that maybe just before that he wasn't maybe in good a form as well.
12:51Sometimes when you're injured, you always become a better player than you do when you're
12:54actually playing the games. But he's had a big influence and he's helped us. He helped
13:00us greatly get through the introduction to the new stadium. I think he gave the support
13:06or something to really get behind as well. He's incredibly well-liked inside the building,
13:13outside the building. But ultimately, he's not our player. He's Man City's player. So,
13:18we've had him on loan for a year and I think we have to say we've really enjoyed him.
13:22In the specs right there, he's obviously built good relationships with everyone and yourself
13:27and stuff. So, does it just come down to the financials in the end about whether you want
13:32to get him back? As I said, we're not made any worse. No, he's on loan. Him and Tyler are
13:36both. They'll both go back to their clubs. Obviously, that's the way it works at the end of the season.
13:41And we'll see what the summer sort of brings.
13:45Thanks, Carl. Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
13:50No? Okay.
13:50Thanks, Carl.
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