David Moyes confirms Jack Grealish news ahead of Tottenham Hotspur clash

Jack Grealish Ready for Everton Start as Moyes Faces Tottenham Test

David Moyes has made it clear, Jack Grealish is in line to start for Everton against Tottenham this weekend. After a short outing from the bench in the recent defeat to Manchester United, the Everton manager believes the 31-year-old is now ready for a bigger role.

That matters, because Everton need quality and they need it quickly. Their transfer window closed with more frustration than progress. Grealish returned on loan for a second straight season, but the late collapse of a move for Monaco striker Folarin Balogun left Moyes with a squad short on numbers and light on attacking options.

Jack Grealish boost for Everton

Moyes did not overcomplicate the issue. “I think Jack is special – I think he is ready to play, yes,” said Moyes. “I think Jack is probably a boy who needs the football [matches] more than he needs the training sometimes.”

That sums up Grealish well enough. He is a rhythm player. He needs minutes, contact, pressure, and repetition. Training helps, but matches sharpen him. Moyes sees that clearly and added: “I think game time helps Jack. In ways, that’s him still building up to his best but, I’ve got to say, he’s had a good week of training and he’s beginning to look ready to start.”

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Everton will hope this is the point where his season begins properly. Moyes is not asking for miracles, only a return to the level Grealish showed in the opening stretch of the previous campaign. “It’s incredibly exciting if he gives us what he gave us at the start of last season. If we get that level from him then we’ll be thrilled.”

Everton squad depth remains a problem

There is no point pretending Everton are in a healthy position numerically. Christian Norgaard remains out and is not expected back until after the international break. More broadly, Moyes has only 18 senior players available, which is thin by any Premier League standard.

He has admitted Everton may look at the free agent market for cover, which tells you plenty about where things stand after deadline day. Still, Moyes is trying to sell the upside of a smaller dressing room, tighter bonds, fewer moving parts, and greater clarity.

David Moyes explains small squad gamble

“I think it is interlinked. I think a small group together, the tightness that can happen, I think I mentioned Leicester City winning the league a few years ago and what it was like, it looked like a small group of players who did that.

“It’s probably less and less likely given the extra amount of Champions League games and international games, which make it necessary to have the extra players in your squad. We’ve not got European football this year, so maybe we can find a way of getting through with what we’ve got at the moment?

“I do think sometimes having a tight group can work. I’m not saying it will and if I had my choice I’d have more numbers obviously, but I certainly wasn’t somebody who needed 24 or 25 outfield players, it wasn’t that I was looking for.

“I’ve tried to work mainly with 21 outfield players, that’s the number I’ve tried to have and sometimes you can maybe have 22, it can be a bit bigger, but around that number would have been my choice.”

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p style=”text-align:justify”>That is the Everton reality. Fewer bodies, little margin for error, and a need for Grealish to make an impact straight away. Tottenham away is not ideal preparation. It is, however, a clean test. Everton need output, and Grealish now looks set to be asked for it from the start.