David Moyes is one of the most respected figures in English football. In his stellar career in management, Moyes has been in charge for 1,169 games at Preston North End, Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and West Ham, where he won the club\u2019s first trophy for 43 years in 2023. <\/p>\n
The Premier League manager of the month 11 times, he\u2019s managed more games in England\u2019s top-flight than any other current manager. Not to mention, he played 540 games as a defender before becoming a manager. <\/p>\n
The National sat down with Everton\u2019s Glaswegian manager recently in Chicago during the club\u2019s pre-season tour. <\/p>\n
How are you feeling going into the new season?<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, we finished last season positively. Not better than we expected, but probably better than we hoped. When I took over [in January 2025<\/a>], relegation was the word which was kicking around, so we’ve sort of done a good job in getting rid of that. <\/p>\n What did you do? <\/b><\/p>\n The players made a great reaction. Everton had difficult seasons and last year was the sign of the last difficult period coming to an end.<\/p>\n And into a bright future with Everton about to move into a new stadium?<\/b><\/p>\n That excites me in many ways, but you know what it’s like when you move to new stadium. You also get worried about how quickly it will take to feel like home. We had a compactness at Goodison, we had an atmosphere. <\/p>\n Nowadays the players get to play in so many good stadiums all around the world \u2013 almost every stadium you go to. Coming to Goodison was different and difficult for visitors but for us being the home team it helped. We need to create that same feeling at the new stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n I’ve got to say for Evertonians it’s been something they\u2019ve been waiting on for a long time. The stadium is stunning. It\u2019s on the water [by the river Mersey], it looks good and if we can take the atmosphere which we had at Goodison and transfer it, I\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s demand for it.<\/b><\/p>\n It holds just short of 53,000 and I think we\u2019ve sold all the season tickets with another 20,000 waiting to try to get season tickets. That give the club more revenue and it\u2019s modern which was something which was certainly needed at Goodison, probably more than anything. <\/p>\n How’s your relationship with Evertonians? I’ve just seen a couple of fans in Chicago and asked them about you; they’re loving you. There are times when it wasn\u2019t like that.<\/b><\/p>\n When I left and went to United<\/a> (in 2013), it was probably quite difficult. But, you know, folks forget I’d done 11 years at Everton and possibly it was time to change for both parties. And they gave me an unbelievable send-off at Everton when I was leaving. <\/p>\n But if Evertonians look back, they’ll probably say that the teams I managed were some of the best they\u2019d seen in a long time. We had European trips, we were challenging the top teams, we were challenging Liverpool and we finished above Liverpool in my last two years in charge. We were competitive in all the competitions. <\/p>\n How have you changed as a manager? Has the experience of being at several different clubs made you a better manager, a better person? Do you still love football the same?<\/b><\/p>\n I love football, though I can get fed up with parts of it: some of the new rules and a lot of extra off-the-field commitments, but, you know, the world’s moving on. If you’re from a certain era then you don’t see that as being why we’re there. <\/p>\n Our job is to try to get the best results we can for the team, not necessarily to give everything to the media, to talk about every action and every moment, but I’ve changed because I’ve probably mellowed in many ways. I’ve got more experience from coaching at different clubs. I\u2019m better for it.<\/p>\n What would your wife say about you?<\/b><\/p>\n She’d probably say that she wanted me to keep working. She didn’t want me in the house. I think that was obvious. When I don\u2019t work, I upset her coffee mornings and different things. <\/p>\n When I left West Ham I wasn’t disappointed because it was probably the right time for both parties to leave, but it was a great time at West Ham. We built a good side; we won a European trophy. <\/p>\n And you did let the cameras in the dressing room after that trophy, because they caught you dancing \u2026<\/b><\/p>\n I’d like to say on the record that I\u2019m yet to be invited on to Strictly Come Dancing. Maybe they know I’d be knocked out in the early rounds. But overall, I didn’t really care because winning a trophy puts you in a different light as a coach.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just trophies though. I see myself as having longevity, especially in the Premier League. Think of the top managers that have come to the Premier League and some haven’t stayed that long for different reasons. But I\u2019m only behind Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger<\/a> for games managed in the Premier League. I\u2019m still going.<\/p>\n For how long? You\u2019re 62.<\/b><\/p>\n With respect, I don’t want to be as old as Roy Hodgson (who managed Crystal Palace at 77), or I don’t want to be as old as Sir Alex was when he retired (72). <\/p>\n The job of the head coach or the manager now has become a little bit more stressful than it used to be. More media commitments as I said, but more data, not just about your own team’s performance, but your opposition. <\/p>\n There’s a lot more work to do and not many managers out there are going home at two in the afternoon because training’s over.<\/p>\n There’s far, far greater responsibilities within the role as a manager now than there\u2019s ever been. And even commercial-wise, there’s more things since the clubs are commercially all having to grow and bring in more money. <\/p>\n So, you’re finding yourself not getting as much time. There’s not many managers doing 10 years in a row now as there was in the past.<\/p>\n But you’re back in the north-west of England, long your home. It\u2019s where you ended up during Covid.<\/b> <\/p>\n [My wife) wanted me out of the house. There was an advertisement up in the fruit and veg shop saying drivers were needed to deliver fruit and veg. I wanted to help in the community. So I walked round and said, \u2018Can I help you with the job?\u2019 And the man said, \u2018Yeah\u2019. <\/p>\n I hired a van and I\u2019d deliver these big baskets of fruit and veg and collect money for them. I\u2019d say \u201cThat\u2019s \u00a312.50\u201d and they\u2019d give me \u00a315 and say \u201ckeep the change, son.\u201d They didn\u2019t have a clue who I was. <\/p>\n One or two said that I looked like the football manager David Moyes. There were a few where the people didn\u2019t have the right money so I just said \u2018Call it a tenner\u2019 and I put the rest in. <\/p>\n A lot of the deliveries were around Blackpool. And I’m seen as being Preston because I\u2019d played for and managed Preston North End, but there were no issues. It was at a time when we all needed to do something.<\/p>\n How’s Premier League football changing? If you watch a game now compared to 10 or 15 years ago, are the tactics changing?<\/b><\/p>\n Hugely. And I sense another turn. There\u2019s more risk taking because probably since Pep came in, there’s been a greater emphasis on his style. <\/p>\n I don’t think anybody’s ever been as good as Pep or his teams at his style, but nearly all the teams throughout the leagues are playing in different ways than what they did in years gone by. <\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to say it\u2019s about possession as that\u2019s not the biggest key, but there was a period where everybody wanted to try to keep possession.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also been a world of young coaches come in changing how it looks. Whether they’re brought up on PlayStations or seeing something different. But if you ask people about football, football’s always been there. <\/p>\n I\u2019m sort of a custodian saying \u2018Don’t start telling us how to do this or how to do that\u2019. We’ve got a lot of young ones coming in saying, \u2018No, we want to do this, we think these changes, you shouldn’t do this\u2019. We\u2019re all allowed our views. <\/p>\n But the league is more physical and there’s more speed in the Premier League than before. Tactics now has become a huge dimension. We used to think about Italian teams being tactically drilled and organised. Now we all must be like that. I\u2019ve worked with Uefa as a technical observer and studied the tactics. You must move with the times.<\/p>\n Last season was actually one of the more disappointing Premier League seasons. The three who came up went straight down and the title race was done early. The league’s entitled to have the odd bad year.<\/p>\n But we’ve had some amazing football teams and some amazing teams to watch. The Premier League can attract all the best players, the best managers. We’re fortunate we’ve got that. <\/p>\n How can things improve?<\/b><\/p>\n