Title: Moyes' best ever squad
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Blog Entry: THE very reason for which the Carling Cup attracts increasing derision could well provide encouragement for Everton this evening. The reputation of the competition has taken a battering in recent years with the leading clubs using it as an opportunity to field fringe players and, on occasion, almost entire teams of untried youngsters. Of course, Everton don't have the resources for the wholesale tinkering so favoured by the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal. But the effect of the changes David Moyes is contemplating this evening will underline the improvement in the overall talent of his squad. An insistence on quality rather than quantity during the summer transfer window means the Goodison manager can now shuffle his resources without overly compromising the standard of his starting XI. Indeed, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Yakubu, Jo, Tony Hibbert, Lucas Neill and Dan Gosling were all missing from the team that began the 3-0 beating of Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. All six are in contention when Everton travel to Hull City this evening for their Carling Cup third round tie. And Everton assistant manager Steve Round says: "If you are successful for a few years and have the continuity of having the same manager, you should be building your squad to be strong enough to cope with four competitions in a season. "Unfortunately for us we don't quite have the resources of some other clubs where we can buy that size of squad. We've had to develop it over a number of years. "It's not a team game now it's a squad game. "If we are successful this season we could play between 60 and 70 games, so it's important we have a very good squad, not just a strong starting XI. "If you ask the manager now what his very best first XI is, he couldn't tell you. He could probably tell you his best 16 or 18." Prom gowns Those resources will be further bolstered when Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta, captain Phil Neville and Victor Anichebe return from injury, with James Vaughan - currently on loan at Derby County until the end of the year - another option later in the season. Hip Hop Jewellery With Everton challenging on four fronts this season, a strong squad is a necessity with Goodison manager Moyes compelled to shuffle his resources to ensure fresh legs. And Round adds: "Maybe five or six years ago it would have been difficult for players to accept they won't be playing in every game. "But the attitude has shifted since then. "You see the very best teams - Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool - all doing it. "It's all right not changing one or two of the players now, but if you get to March or April and the quarter-finals and semi-finals are taking place, if you have a team that has had 11 players that have played 50 games and eight players have only played six games, you are going to be in trouble. "That's what happened in the Premier League over the past five or six seasons, and you can see how successful teams have been in the Champions League as a result. "Players are more accepting now that if you play 50-60 games a season, they can't play all of them. "Players want to play every game, so they aren Christian Louboutin Shoes Christian Louboutin Shoes
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