EXCLUSIVE: Tim Howard speaks to ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley as the Blues prepare to kick-off the Premier League Summer Series in his home state of New Jersey
Former Everton and USA goalkeeper Tim Howard spoke exclusively to the ECHO ahead of the Blues’ first game in the Premier League Summer Series at the MetLife Stadium in his home state of New Jersey
As Everton head to his home state of New Jersey to kick off the Premier League Summer Series, Tim Howard is backing David Moyes to make the right signings ahead of the Blues’ historic first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium because “he knows how to work the transfer market better than anyone.”
When Idrissa Gueye’s new contract was announced on July 7, Moyes said of the Senegal international: “His experience and his knowledge of the club is going to be so important going forward with the introduction of lots of new players and the new stadium.” However, along with Charly Alcaraz turning his loan move into a permanent switch and the acquisition of goalkeeper Mark Travers who is expected to be understudy to Jordan Pickford, striker Thierno Barry was the only new outfield player on the plane as Everton crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
Howard, who Moyes brought to Goodison Park in 2006, initially on loan, before going on to serve the club for a decade, is unconcerned by the wait for additional new faces and has backed his old Blues boss to get the recruitment process right.
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The ex-USA international, capped 121 times and whose 414 appearances for Everton are a club record for a player from outside the British Isles, told the ECHO: “The transfer window is so interesting because you want new signings and if you don’t hear anything, then the worry starts to build. David Moyes knows how to work the transfer market better than anyone I’ve ever known.
“He does it politely. I know for a fact that the squad needed an overhaul and if you know anything about football, it’s as clear as day.
“To compete for European places, the squad as a whole wasn’t good enough. That needs to change and while I don’t think that can change in one transfer window, you can make big strides towards it.”
Everton played against Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew in Ohio and then Mexican outfit Club America in Frisco, Texas, during Howard’s inaugural summer at the club. It was the second of half a dozen American trips during Moyes’ first spell in charge, and the first of what proved to be four consecutive years that the Blues played friendlies in the US.
The 46-year-old former goalkeeper is not surprised that the Scot is such a fan of taking teams to his homeland. Howard said: “I did my first pre-season with Everton in the States, and we ended up going back several times. David Moyes traditionally likes to take his teams there as he feels they can get a really good pre-season under their belt, both on and off the pitch.
“It doesn’t surprise me, but David Moyes seems to really enjoy bringing his teams here as he feels the preparation is right. He very much understands the scrutiny that players are under and although he doesn’t shy away from letting them know that it’s a responsibility of theirs, as a leader, he also likes to take that pressure off his players as much as he can, so they can focus on the pitch and the US offers that, so the two go hand in hand.”
This visit though is particularly special for Howard though as Everton’s first game against Bournemouth takes place in his home state at the successor stadium to the ground where, as a schoolboy from North Brunswick, New Jersey, he was enthralled by his own maiden matchday experience. He said: “The sport over here was very primitive back then. We didn’t have any professional teams, a league or even much football on television.
“My earliest memories are actually inside Giants Stadium, on the site of the MetLife Stadium where Everton are playing. The men’s US national team played a game there and my mother took me.
“It was pretty incredible. I was probably about 10 years old and for the first time I thought: ‘This is something I love.’
“I’d actually been playing football since I was about six years old but up until that point it had just been something that was fun. Seeing a match like that in such as stadium was an incredible experience.
“It’s a great area. There have been a lot of big-time soccer games in that area, going back to the Cosmos and then the World Cup, as well as a lot of other major sporting events.”
Chris Beesley is the only member of the UK media reporting on Everton throughout their entire time in the USA for the Premier League Summer Series
Moyes steered Everton to nine top-eight finishes during his first spell, including the club’s highest-ever Premier League position of fourth in 2004/05 and with the 62-year-old having safely guided the team away from relegation danger in Goodison Park’s final season, Howard reckons he’s the ideal man to be at the helm at such a pivotal moment in the Blues’ history. He said: “I think ever since he left, and he had to leave, all those years ago, the rumour mill about him returning was always there. He’d had some success at Everton and as time goes by, it starts to make more sense.
“There were so stop-starts in the background and moments where he was probably close to coming back and it just never quite happened. I was glad when he returned though as I felt the time was right and the team and the club needed it.
“I think Sean Dyche did a fantastic job steering the team away from relegation. That was a really huge obstacle, and he has to be given credit for that, but it just felt like the time was right for David Moyes to come back.
“The club needed a figurehead, a statesman who can lead from the front, as only he can at Everton. That includes his ability to go into the transfer market and bring in players and I think that makes a lot of sense with the new stadium.
“At a certain point, Everton was just floundering and flirting with relegation every year, that’s just not acceptable. So, when you look at the new ownership, it was a clean break and a great opportunity to bring him back.”
Chris Beesley is the only member of the UK media reporting on Everton throughout their entire time in the USA for the Premier League Summer Series and go to @CBeesleyEcho to follow him on X as he supplements his reports with video from New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Don’t miss a kick with the ECHO and watch out for part two of our exclusive interview with Tim Howard later in the tour.