David Moyes Frustrated with Everton's Squad Depth

David Moyes cut a frustrated figure as he surveyed what is left of his Everton squad – and it does not amount to much.

Days after the transfer window slammed shut, the Scot finds himself with just 18 senior outfield players and only one recognised striker, a stark reality for a manager who insists he has no intention of spending the season staring down the barrel of a relegation fight.

A chaotic deadline day left scars. A late push for Monaco forward Folarin Balogun collapsed at the final hurdle, while Iliman Ndiaye departed for Manchester City, stripping yet more attacking depth from a group already stretched thin.

“Disappointed we didn't do more business, disappointed things didn't go our way in the end,” Moyes admitted in his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester United’s visit on Sunday. “But sometimes in football you have to live with disappointments and we will and we'll move on.”

The Balogun saga summed up the window. Everton thought they were close to landing the USA international in a deal reported to be worth around £40 million. A medical issue emerged, prompting the club to try to renegotiate the terms. Monaco managing director Thiago Scuro later revealed that Balogun himself withdrew from the move, unhappy with how he felt he had been treated by Everton.

Both clubs, Moyes stressed, were still willing to proceed. Then the player walked away.

“There were lots of different bits to it. It wasn't anybody's fault,” Moyes said. “Ultimately it happens in football a lot. The player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it.”

The consequences are clear. No Balogun, no direct replacement for Ndiaye, and a squad trimmed to the bone as Everton prepare to face a Manchester United side eager to test that lack of depth.

This is not where Moyes expected to be. Last season, Everton flirted with European qualification before a late stumble saw them slide to 13th. It was still a campaign that exceeded expectations, and Moyes has been unambiguous about his ambition to push the club back towards continental football.

He does not see himself as a manager built for survival scraps anymore.

“I'm getting too old now to be sitting around at the bottom end,” he said, laying down a clear challenge. “I've said that to the players here when I came in. The job is that we challenge as close to the top end of the league as we can.”

He praised his squad for how they responded last year. “I've got to say, they've done a brilliant job of it last year, and I don't think we were expected to do so well as what we've done.”

The message now is defiant, even if the numbers on the squad list are not.

“I've got to hope that we can do that again,” Moyes added. “There might not be a great expectation on us at this moment in time, but behind the scenes I'm rallying them.”

Eighteen outfield players. One recognised striker. Manchester United coming to town. For Moyes, the rallying starts now.