Moyes Happy With Squad
Everton boss, David Moyes, says he is happy with what he has described as his strongest ever Everton squad.
With Premier League teams just getting back together for tough pre-season training programs, many clubs will now start to make big changes to their squads.
However, the Scot, who has been tipped to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, says he is happy with the state of the side and expects them to push for a European place by the end of the season.
Everton do not have a massive squad by any means. They have a select group of quality players who play for the manager and each other. This creates a number of substantial benefits that the team use to their advantage. There are also external factors that help the team through long seasons.
Small Squad
A small squad is nothing to be ashamed of. There are an endless number of benefits that can emerge from only having a select few players to choose from with each game that passes in the Premier League.
Everton players such as Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka have formed their current reputations from regularly appearing in the Everton side. They kept getting games and the only way that players learn and gain experience is if this happens.
Fortunately the club have a very clever manager that only brings in players who are specifically bought for a particular role in the team. There is no blanketing of players like what happens at Manchester City and because of this Moyes can keep everything organised and simple.
Moyes said: "I think you take the next game and you get on with it and you see where you end up. But we're ambitious and we want to do well and we've got a great desire to do better than what we've done in the past so we'll just try to keep it going and hopefully see where we end up."
External Factors
There are many things that happen away from the pitch, which have allowed Everton to get into a very strong position over recent years. they have given Moyes the time and space to develop the club and this is something that the pressure of the Premier League does not always allow. He is now one of the longest serving managers at a club in the league's history.
Everton have a very good group of fans that follow the club up and down the country regardless of news or conditions. This is the sort of support that Premier League clubs thrive on because passionate fans have the ability to inspire a team when they go to difficult away games. It also makes Everton's home ground a very difficult ground to go to.
Moyes added: "I think in my time at Everton we've now got as strong a squad as we've ever had so I'm looking forward to it (the coming season). I'm looking forward to having a season with them and seeing how it goes."
Betting Advice
Everton will not win the Premier League so do not get carried away with any romantic ideas that they will. A more realistic option, but still a punt, is for the club to get into the Champions League by the end of the year.
There are plenty of players in the team who can have an impact and score goals but Cahill looks the most likely to end up as top scorer. You will get good odds on him to do this but you can always wait until the season starts if you prefer being a little more cautious.
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