Everton owe David Moyes after a dispiriting defeat by Aston Villa - his return highlighted how far the club has fallen and this toothless team NEED reinforcements in January, writes DOMINIC KING
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Perhaps the first thing the new manager should be looking to change on his return to Everton is his surname: doesn’t David Moyes need to be David Copperfield?. Plenty were hoping chapter two of this particular relationship would begin as the first did in March 2002 and, on this emotional night, there were some nods to the past: Moyes, for instance, went out to oversee the warm-up, as he did against Fulham 23 years ago.
![[The Toffees were toothless and need signings - Dominic Calvert-Lewis hasn't scored in 1,212 Premier League minutes]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/15/21/94141323-0-image-a-4_1736977354831.jpg)
He had the Midas touch immediately, David Unsworth scoring after 27 seconds and lighting the fuse on a reign that would last 518 matches. Moyes had great support that day, his team picked by the respected old club stalwart Andy Holden, and fans who were immediately on board.
![[Ollie Watkins' goal was enough to seal Aston Villa a 1-0 win at Goodison Park on Wednesday]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/15/21/94141327-0-image-m-6_1736977397006.jpg)
The warm-up aside, though, this was a very different occasion, tense and full of realism. Yes, the ovation he received when moving onto the pitch before kick-off was generous and respectful, his name greeted with cheers from all sides of the stadium, but that was where the similarities ended.
![[Moyes looked resigned on the touchline after watching a team horribly short of quality]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/15/21/94141319-0-image-a-7_1736977436360.jpg)
Once kick-off began, Moyes must have felt like a parent who had been handed the bill on a maxed-out credit card and asked to clear it before the next statement arrived. This Everton squad is horribly short of quality and only a magician could have changed things in two training sessions.
Moyes would have been apprehensive about this happening. He spent 10 minutes during the warm-up studying Aston Villa’s players, focusing on their passing and movement in a game of four-versus-four from the halfway line. It was quick, it was clever, it was everything Everton haven’t been.
