Does Moyes know his best eleven?

Everyone connected to the club went into the new season with new found confidence. Although we hadn’t brought in any real top signings, just keeping all of our current squad was good enough for most Evertonians after realising that they cannot expect anything from the current board.

However, our confidence has took a real dent after only gaining 1 point from 2 games where we really should be grabbing all 6 if the club wants to have a real go at gaining a Champions League place this season.

This brings me onto my thoughts about our first eleven. Does David Moyes know his first choice eleven and if he does, why isn’t he playing it?

For Everton to gain a real settled and balanced team, he needs to get an idea of his starting eleven and play it. You cannot go into a Premier League season with an unsettled squad because of constant chopping and changes in the first eleven.

This however can change against Huddersfield in the Carling Cup. A great chance to play his first eleven (providing everyone is fit) and gain a settled team. It may not be top opposition but we can go into Sunday’s game against Aston Villa with a fair idea of who is our first choice team.

Going by my judgement, I think that Moyes will be lining up with his tried and trusted 4-4-1-1. The obvious pick in goal will be Tim Howard.

Then a tricky one, who to play at right back? Phil Neville is the obvious pick there, being captain and when all of his current right back’s are fit, he seems to be the obvious starter. However, most Evertonians are eager to see young Seamus Coleman fit in there and why not? He gave a very good account of himself in pre season and his attacking ability will push Everton onto another level in my opinion. It will also give Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, when he plays on the right, a totally different option to Phil Neville and Tony Hibbert because of Coleman’s ability going forward. However, I think most people will know it’s obvious that Phil Neville will start there.

We then move onto the centre backs. Phil Jagielka is without doubt first choice centre back and then it leaves one out of Distin and Heitinga. Many people have commented that Heitinga and Jagielka are the best partnership and I’d agree with that but I think Moyes worries about their lack of height and the lack of a left footed defender with Jagielka. So I think Distin will partner Jagielka.

Left back is another easy one with Leighton Baines, one of the best full backs in the Premier League taking the role easily.

We then move onto another right sided dilemma. You can choose from Leon Osman, Victor Anichebe and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. In my opinion, Victor Anichebe will be first choice there. Bilyaletdinov has failed to deliver on many occasions and while he shows glimpses of real quality with a nice footballing brain, he is still struggling to adapt to the speed and strength of the Premiership. Leon Osman doesn’t offer a lot out wide and is naturally a central midfielder, so I think he will be only used to fill in when required.

Another hard pick in central midfield. Mikel Arteta will always be first choice in my eyes with his playmaking skills and then we need a partner for him. Moyes will have to pick either the returning Maroaune Fellaini who delivered sublime performances last season or Jonny Heitinga who has impressed in the role when asked to play there. Given that Fellaini and Arteta is a mouth-watering partnership, I think it will be those two with plenty of balance between the two but I’m really not sure who Moyes will pick, it’s certainly a hard one.

Left midfield is an easy choice with Steven Pienaar obviously grabbing that role and rightly so.

Another easy choice will be Tim Cahill in the role behind the striker. However, Jack Rodwell is ever improving and could offer a totally different option to Tim if required and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rodwell cement his name in the first time come the turn of the year if players aren’t performing.

That brings us onto the striker, who will Moyes pick? If it was up to me, Yakubu is our best forward at the club but he is suffering from fitness problems and the fact that he wants to leave the club aswell as his manager basically saying that he’d like to sell him if a price is offered that he is happy with, so it would be silly to suggest that Yakubu will be first choice at this present moment of time.

Jermaine Beckford has joined the club in the summer and while offering a new option with his pace and movement, it’s too early to suggest that he could be number 1 for Everton at the moment with his step up from League 1 to Premiership football. That brings me onto Louis Saha. Probably Moyes’ first choice in my opinion at the moment but after two poor performances this season and the fact that he hasn’t scored since the Chelsea home game last season, it’s not wise to suggest that he is our number one striker by a long stretch. It’s certainly a tough choice and Moyes will need to get it right quick otherwise Everton will struggle to score goals this season.

David Moyes now has very little time to get something to work fast. Starting with Huddersfield, he could get a settled team quickly and a win under his belt and Everton can move on from there. It will be very interesting to see what unfolds and what our first choice team is come the end of the season but that suggests that there are exciting times ahead.

Callum Jones