David Moyes explains lineup selection after Carabao Cup exit

David Moyes made seven changes to the lineup that started in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield five days ago. The rotations cost Everton as the Blues suffered a third-round exit from the Carabao Cup after losing 2-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. 

The front four was completely changed with Charly Alcaraz, Dwight McNeil, Tyler Dibling and Thierno Barry given chances to displace the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish, Iliman Ndiaye and Beto from Moyes’s first-choice XI. None of the players could make a case for themselves in a scrappy first half that saw Everton fall behind to a Marshall Munetsi goal.

Asked to explain the changes to his lineup, which also saw Seamus Coleman, Tim Iroegbunam and Mark Travers starting for the Toffees, Moyes said, “[There were] no real reasons.

"We've got a lot of good players and we've got players in the squad who are getting back to fitness, some of them who are not, so we wanted to give some of them an opportunity to show what they can do.

"The team have been playing at a really good level and it was a chance to see if others could join it.”

While Moyes is partly to blame for the disastrous first half against Vitor Pereira’s side, his players failed to bail him out as well. Even against a rotated Wolves side that had lost all five of their Premier League games, Everton’s bench players failed to make a mark.

Moyes was quick to make changes while chasing the game. He brought on Beto and Dewsbury-Hall at half-time and Grealish and Ndiaye came on shortly after.

Asked if any of those who started made an impression, Moyes said, “Well, they've got a level to get up to now because we've seen the levels, you saw it in the second half, the performance levels, how much better it was.

“The players who we introduced made a huge difference to the team. So we want everybody to play at that level.

"We didn't play at the level in the first half, but I don't think Wolves did either. I didn't think they were necessarily any better at that time in the game.”

Moyes was also furious with the way the Blues conceded their opening goal at the half-hour mark. “The game was a 0-0, they probably scored against the run of play in some ways. We gave away a terrible first goal, which altered things and made the game a bit more difficult. I thought we probably dominated most of the second half, we just couldn't find a way of getting a goal,” he said.

Reader Comments (1)

Absolutely no need to change the goalkeeper.

The goalkeeper should be a constant unless otherwise injured.

As for not playing strongest teams.

You should always field your strongest lineup, again unless otherwise such as injuries of European commitments and bigger fish to fry.

We are not a club with bigger fish to fry let's be honest, we are not a club where success is around the corner in the Europa League, Champions League etc