Everton’s unbeaten record in the Premier League finally fell against Chelsea on Saturday and perhaps inevitably, David Moyes and his approach to the game are a big talking point.

Pedro Neto grabbed a brace at Hill Dickinson Stadium as Chelsea won 2-0 to condemn Everton to a first loss in 2026/27, and it was a rather disappointing performance from the Toffees, in truth. While Chelsea have impressed with their attack, their backline has been vulnerable. And yet, Everton didn’t give it a particularly hard time.

In the end, Everton only had five shots on target, and it was visitors Chelsea who were on the front foot for the most part.

The loss has led to some frustration within the fanbase.

Everton disappointed by David Moyes’ lack of ambition vs Chelsea

In recent weeks, it has felt like Moyes has had a lot of support from Evertonians, even from those who had previously been critical of him.

It has largely been accepted that the situation has been made difficult for him by his superiors, and that he is now trying to guide the team through adversity, which is arguably how he works best.

But it is always much easier to be supportive when the team is picking up results. Everton lost to Chelsea on Saturday and perhaps inevitably, questions are being asked of David Moyes regarding his approach to the game.

James Garner admitted Everton’s plan was to stay in the game, which was disappointing. Yes, Chelsea have top players, but Everton were the home team, have done well against Chelsea at home in recent years, and faced a side who have had defensive problems.

Neto scored early in the second half, which changed the complexion of the game. Everton then had to chase the contest, but there appeared not to be much of a shift in the way Everton played. Moyes also made some questionable changes. The one most people couldn’t really understand was the introduction of Christian Norgaard.

Norgaard is not only a defensive midfielder, but he is also just coming back from injury. That he was sent on to replace Harrison Armstrong was a strange call. And it was a very poor showing from Norgaard, who didn’t look at all ready.

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glynowen71

Moyes is embarrassing, hall isn’t a10. sit down and think other than hold on to the ball, but then pass back what does grealish do? Our teams reflect the manager. Nervous boring timid, yesterday the game crying out for drive and creativity from midfield. He brings on a injured defensive mid with no legs. The poor lad didn’t have a chance.

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markmarston

Think too much respect was shown to Chelsea imo…. Moyes should’ve shown more ambition

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That call was made even more strange by the fact that Hayden Hackney has previously shown how useful he can be coming off the bench. He made a fantastic impact against Manchester United earlier this season.

Some fans from Everton News’ TalkingPoints made it clear that Moyes’ approach to this game was questionable, with one branding Everton’s display ‘nervous, boring and timid’.

Another described it as ‘slow, cumbersome’ and predictable, while a third said there was simply ‘nothing going forward’. A fourth added that Moyes needed to show more ambition.

Moyes inexplicably gave zero minutes to Charly Alcaraz, Tyler Dibling and Hackney yesterday. At 1-0 down, Everton were obviously still in the game and might have got something had one of these players come on instead of Norgaard.

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chrisstafford1234

Once again we pay to watch a Moyes defencive team nothing going forward if this continues we will be lucky to be in the premiership he has a team that has forgotten how to attack and cannot win the second ball

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kevink40

We were very poor today. Slow,cumbersome and predictable going forward. Conceded again, through poor defending, which is unlike us. We need to be more assertive going forward.

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Moyes did put Brennan Johnson on, but fans have watched the Welshman struggle to make an impact in recent weeks. To put an out-of-form player on was another questionable move by the manager.

Any one of Alcaraz, Dibling or Hackney coming on in the closing stages would have been a greater show of ambition to win that game of football.

Moyes is a floor raiser, but potentially a ceiling capper

Moyes has done a great job since returning to Everton in January 2025 for a second spell, guiding the club to safety with ease. He then oversaw a 13th-placed finish last term, which plenty of fans felt was disappointing given how that campaign ended with seven games without a win.

During that run, there were again moments that Moyes arguably didn’t show enough ambition to win games, putting faith in out-of-form players and making changes that were too late in games.

Against Chelsea, Everton failed to really take the game to their opponents when they needed to. And the loss is also giving other results a new perspective. The mentality was perhaps summed up when Moyes explained why he started Merlin Rohl. The German was selected to deal Chelsea left-back Pep Chavarria. He didn’t actually play in the end, but the move was a reactive one and was all about nullifying an opposition player. Some have wondered why Moyes didn’t make a more ambitious choice to perhaps cause some damage going the other way.

Moyes’ approach can work in some situations, but here it came up short and fans are rightly asking questions. Even though there is adversity and the squad is small, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the Toffees could and should be sat on more than the 10 points that they are.