‘Aggression, energy, desire’ – how Moyes is motivating Everton, again

Some of the hallmarks of the best Everton teams I played in under David Moyes were aggression, energy, intensity and desire.

When Everton beat Tottenham on Sunday, he would make us believe we could defeat anyone. I could see some of that when I watched him win.

Everyone at the club, including Moyes, was so proud of his first win in his second game, but the way they came to it was even more important, especially for the manager.

You could ask for more from this Everton team in terms of the way they started the game. When they had been so difficult to come by, they had the advantage of taking the game to Tottenham and could have scored even more if things had turned out differently.

He is already up and running now, and he knows he has something to work with, especially up front, and this is only the beginning. He still has a lot to do, and he still has a lot to do.

Everton have been lacking the most this season, with goals and an attacking threat, and that is one of the biggest differences against Spurs.

They created chances, and took them too, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin worked his socks off for the entire game.

In my time playing for him, Moyes always preferred a centre-forward with a presence who could play with physicality, run the channels, hold the ball up, and also score crosses and fly in behind defences with pace.

I look at Calvert-Lewin and he has got all of those attributes. You can tell from his current running that he is still in good health and can contribute to the team.

Under Moyes, I played more than 200 Premier League games. The approach he asks you to play can be enjoyable, but it also has a lot of demands.

I believed that some Everton players played harder roles than others when they faced Spurs.

Jesper Lindstrom, in particular, was almost asked to do two jobs on the right – a winger when they had possession, a right-back without it – but that freed up Iliman Ndiaye to stay higher up the pitch on the left, which certainly benefited Everton in the final third.

You must do exactly what if you want to play for Moyes frequently. Like Lindstrom, I quickly realized that some days you just need to dig in and put forth hard in games without receiving any of the individual praise.

That’s the way it should be, though. Everyone who supported Moyes’ approach and believed in the team’s goal-setting resulted in the team’s best efforts under Moyes.

Regardless of the opponent, he was brilliant at setting us up for a game. He’d get the tactical information across, wind us up and send us out – we’d be in the tunnel yelling ‘ let’s go’.

That confidence is attained through diligent training and the time you spend working together as a squad and putting together.

Since Moyes has only recently assumed control, the process is only just beginning, but understanding Goodison Park is another area where he can gain a head start.

He has managed more Premier League games than any other Everton manager, enabling him to understand how the crowd interacts with, what they anticipate, and how they react, as well as how they can best serve the team at all times.

The crowd will react if you press the opposition to make mistakes quickly, aggressively, and force them to do so. That’s exactly what happened against Spurs, and it brought more out of the players.

It is not just the crowd’s excitement that lifts players. He had a special energy and determination in him when I played under him, which he also exhibited in our performances.

Although he is now a little older than he was when he took over as manager in 2002, it is obvious that he still enjoys the challenge and will benefit the current team.

His knowledge will be crucial as well. He is also wiser than ever when letting his emotions affect the team, despite being older.

When Moyes was our manager, he always had his heart on his sleeve, and despite many occasions when it had worked out well for us, we would have preferred to remain calm.

I think Moyes’ know-how is extremely beneficial, and he already has this connection with Everton as well. Fans, who he obviously appreciated, described returning to work as being like coming home.

There were of course some Evertonians who didn’t necessarily agree with his return as being beneficial, but they might be mistaken at this point.

Everton will not be getting carried away because of the first-half performance against Spurs, which was the kind that led to the first meeting between Spurs and Everton.

I couldn’t tell him what he said after the game because I wasn’t in the dressing room this time, but I know what kind of message he will try to convey.

Even after a big win like this, he always likes to keep his players hungry, so despite the abundance of praise, he will also have told them what they can do better. It is his way of encouraging you to strive for more.