David Moyes has much work to do to bolster his depleted squad for the club’s first season in their magnificent new riverside stadium
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 13th (NB: this is not necessarily Andy Hunter’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 13th
Building a new stadium befitting Everton’s ambitions proved a fraught and costly process. The same is true of David Moyes’s attempts to build a new team to realise those ambitions. Everton must hope that, like Hill Dickinson Stadium, their exhaustive efforts eventually pay off.
The feel around Everton is at odds with the reality of Moyes’s summer at present. The move to a modern new home – which, despite Unesco’s objections, is the finest development along the River Mersey in decades – has generated a positivity unfamiliar to Evertonians after too long in the doldrums. But it is not the only source. A blessed end to the Farhad Moshiri era, stability and common sense under The Friedkin Group, the team’s uplift under Moyes in the second half of last season, Moyes himself, with his ability to rebuild a side and connection to the fanbase, all point to a club turning their troubles around and moving forward. But the squad? Not so much.
