The People's Forum: When I consider options I check their profiles.

There are some great sites that analyze how coaches set up their teams.

For instance the guy who seems to be our fans' flavour currently:
https://learning.coachesvoice.com/cv/andoni-iraola-tactics-bournemouth-vallecano/
https://jobsinfootball.com/blog/andoni-iraola-tactics-explained/
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/head-coach-analysis/andoni-iraola-tactics-pressing-bournemouth-2025-2026-tactical-analysis
https://spielverlagerung.com/2025/01/28/organized-chaos-bournemouths-possession-principles-against-nottingham-mh/

And so on. I then try to figure out how our current squad would fit and if this is the type of football I'd like Everton to play. If these two seem a good fit I also like to find out how the handle tough times which every coach invariably faces.

I have searched for interesting coaches before but not over the past two seasons (so ChatGPT hasn't helped) and one thing I learned is that I could flip a coin. This stuff I do is just for fun and has zero prediction ability. Some of the coaches I have thought could do well have had torrid times since. Couple have done well, but most have been sacked at least once by now.

But I'm not the one making the call anyways and I find it interesting to occasionally learn how different coaches set up their teams and about those guys in general. Find out who are the up and coming managers being talked about. Call it an occasional hobby.

Previous Message

Someone mentioned Fabregas as a potential manager next season, which is a good shout as he also has experience of the EPL.
Other potential Candidates.
Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth): From the Basque region, he brings high-pressing, direct football, earning plaudits in England and Spain.
Míchel (Girona): Led Girona to historic success with an energetic, attacking approach, establishing them as a top La Liga side.
Garcia Pimienta (Las Palmas): A Barcelona academy product, he implements an attractive, possession-based game, impressing in La Liga.

Other Key Figures:

Luis de la Fuente (Spain National Team): Successful with Spain's youth teams (U21 Euros, Olympic Silver) and now leading the senior side, showcasing versatility.
Jagoba Arrasate (Osasuna): An understated but highly effective coach known for building a strong, high-pressing DNA at Osasuna over several years.

Previous Message

But as I said below, this is not the most important question going forward.

Rather that latter is actually the most important question: how do we move forward? Not in January but next season? Can we see progress next season with current setup? Is it the sort of progress this club should see? By that I mean the identity of the team. We absolutely need to see some semblance of identity or we will again be in trouble soon enough.

People seem to put too much emphasis on Brighton's data but everyone has data these days. It's how you use it. And what they usually do is sign a coach that fits their identity, which in turn helps integrating both new and existing players in the squad.

This is exactly opposite to what we have done. We keep changing manager profile and signing players not fit for them. Just like ManU have done, signing Amorim was a particular case in point: their squad was nowhere correctly built for him and even me as clueless as I am wondered if he was a good fit (very rigid tactically + wrong players - how was that supposed to work?).

We had this identity thing planning from the club a few years back but apparently it was tossed aside because the situation was so dire. This would be the time to dig up those plans because they did sound good. Or make new ones. But at least have a vision what the team should look like. Because without it we will keep signing players and managers who are not a good fit and nothing will actually improve. Yes, there will be a bit more money available but Spurs for instance will still have way more.

Point being: yes, it was probably good club bought that data company. But data is not going to solve our issues without a framework.

So that is IMO the big issue. Absolutely I do think Moyes should continue til summer but then these things should be considered. Additional problem that could arise is that everyone knows next season would be Moyes's last. So at the bare minimum some sort of succession plan needs to be made, unless "let's get whoever is willing to come" is considered a good plan.

Previous Message

11 points up vs this time in 2025. City and Villa next up (+8), then Arsenal (+6).

It’s frustrating at times, I agree. Moyes is not without his faults, I agree. But the progress is indisputable. There’s no guarantee at all that the next flavour of the month doesn’t turn into one of the many pumpkins we’ve endured over the last decade+.

Again, I’m not preaching giving the man a permanent pass. But I think we can allow for a bad patch when he has (literally) half the squad unavailable and has only had one transfer window to try and improve things.