David Moyes make his case for Everton FC defence

16 January 2010 07:00
DAVID MOYES is desperate to turn his upwardly mobile Everton side back into the mean defensive unit which saw them secure fifth place two seasons in a row.[LNB]The Blues boss craves a return of the clean sheets which have been the foundations of their success, with 19 shut-outs last season.[LNB]This time around Everton have struggled not to concede for a variety of reasons, but their recent six-game unbeaten run in the league has suggested they could be about to turn a corner.[LNB]Although goals have still been going past Tim Howard, central defenders John Heitinga and Lucas Neill have quietly been building an understanding at the heart of defence.[LNB]It was boding well, until Galatasaray threw a spanner in the works last Sunday by luring Neill to Turkey and leaving David Moyes with something of a dilemma.[LNB]He said: 'It took us by surprise. On Sunday we got a call to say they wanted Lucas and I felt obliged to tell Lucas because he came in late to help me out and they were offering him a two year contract.[LNB]'I gave him the opportunity to speak to them if he wanted to do so and he's been able to secure a deal with them.[LNB]'It's really something that I wouldn't want but it was only right that the boy gets his chance to do that.[LNB]'Him and John Heitinga were just beginning to form a real partnership.[LNB]'We base ourselves over the years on keeping clean sheets and that's not happened, but I actually think there was solidity coming with the two of them and we had bedded it down.[LNB]' That happens though and we'll have to see what we can do.'[LNB]Now Moyes must decide whether to ask Lucas Neill to play his last game for the Blues, with the ink still fresh on his signature with another club.[LNB]It is a scenario similar to the one which faced former Blues' caretaker boss Dave Watson in 1997 when he asked Paul Rideout to play against in a crucial league game against Spurs.[LNB]Rideout had just seized a lucrative opportunity to play for Huan Dao Vanguards of Xaopyangon, China, which amounted to a significant pre- retirement nest egg.[LNB]But with a depleted and injury-riven squad, Watson called Rideout back from China before the transfer was completed, to support an ailing midfield.

Source: Liverpool_Echo