MY BEST SQUAD YET

Friday 12 March 2010, 15:47
by Giulia Bould @YourEverton

David Moyes says the current Everton squad is the best he's managed since his arrival at the Club eight years ago.

The Blues boss revealed that seeing his current crop of players in training recently and observing the spirit out on the pitch makes him excited for the future as he believes the side he’s put together now has its best chance of bringing silverware to the Goodison trophy cabinet.

Moyes remains the Premier League’s third longest serving manager behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and since his arrival on Merseyside in 2002 the Scot has led the Blues to a fourth place finish, brought Champions League and Europa League football to Goodison and secured an FA Cup final appearance last season.

"I think we are now the strongest Everton's ever been since I have been at the Club. I think we have got a good balance between a strong, hard working side and also some really good football players," Moyes told evertonTV as he looked at his time as manager.

"I am excited about the group I have here because I can see we are now beginning to get to a level where I think we could do things.

"It is easy to talk about but it is what I see round here at the training ground that makes me realise that there is a really good squad of players here," Moyes continued. "Ideally what we need to do now is continue to build on that and continue to make the Club stronger."

In a season that has seen long term injuries to first team players including Mikel Arteta, Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka and Victor Anichebe, the manager is still impressed with the progress Everton have made with limited resources.

"I have seen a really strong team this season, I have seen a really strong Club and squad. You never have all your players fit at one time, that is part of football.

"So what we have to do is make sure we can cope if we do get injuries," the manager continued. "Hopefully we never have the amount of injuries or that severity of injuries again."

Following last season's FA Cup final appearance and fifth place finish in the Premier League Moyes says the belief among players is also strong.

"I think the players know they can achieve success here and they recognise that they are getting much closer to the top end of the pile,” he declared.

"We think there have been some mitigating circumstances to say why we are not there this season but we'll not use it as an excuse. We will use it to make us stronger in the future."

Buy your ticket for the game with Bolton Wanderers on Saturday 20 March - click here.

Watch David Moyes' pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Birmingham now on evertonTV - click here.

Download the new official evertonfc.com podcast now to hear from David Moyes, Dan Gosling, Sylvain Distin, Seamus Coleman and Graeme Sharp - click here.