The current Sunderland boss spent over a decade in charge at Goodison Park.
David Moyes during his time as Everton boss
David Moyes has told the Guardian that had the Everton side he managed had a top striker within their ranks, they would have had the ability to challenge for the Premier League title.
Moyes spent over a decade in the dugout at Goodison Park before being handed the task of becoming Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Manchester United in 2013.
Moyes is now in charge at Sunderland
And while the fact that Moyes was given the role at Old Trafford confirms just how good a job he did with the Toffees, it may come as a surprise to some just how close the current Sunderland boss thought they were to moving themselves into the title picture.
“We had a great team at Goodison but we were missing a centre-forward. We couldn’t get the finances to buy one in my last couple of years,” he told the Guardian.
Romelu Lukaku would only join the club after Moyes’ departure
“I might be exaggerating but I think, with a top centre-forward, we would have been close to winning the league; we were that good.”
While Moyes’ men were never able to replicate the stunning fourth-place finish of 2005 during the remaining years of his tenure, they were frequently in the mix for a place in Europe, finishing between 5th and 8th for eight campaigns in a row.
And to be fair to Moyes, their top goalscorers during those campaigns often struggled to make it into double figures – Yakubu’s total of 15 during the 2007-08 league season is the most one player managed in a year during Moyes’ spell – which makes their league performances perhaps all the more impressive.
Romelu Lukaku only arrived, initially on loan, the year the former Preston boss had left for United. And with the Belgian scoring 43 times over the next three league campaigns, Moyes may feel that his presence may have been what the squad needed to challenge for the title.
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