Like many of the stars he used to manage, getting back to Champions League now appears to be the main goal of David Moyes’ soccer career. The former Manchester United manager, fired near the end of the Premier League season after 10 months on the job, says he is willing to move to Germany, Spain, or France to return to UEFA’s marquee competition, with two offers to return to management in England having already been declined.
The long-time Everton boss, on vacation in Miami, says he’s waiting for the right opportunity to return to the sidelines, according to reporting by The Guardian. Based on the criteria he laid out, however, Moyes’s best opportunities my lie overseas.
Saying last year’s spell of Champions League soccer proved what he can do in UEFA’s top tournament, Moyes said he’s willing to embrace a new challenge, his 11 years at Everton having proved what he can do in England:
“I have had a couple of opportunities to go back in and chosen not to do anything just now,” Moyes, currently on holiday in Florida, said. “I am going to look for what I feel is the right opportunity. I would like to think I proved myself over the 11-year period at Everton and what I am capable of, and the level at which I want to manage …”
“I got my real first taste of the Champions League this year and I thought I showed I can manage at that level,” he added. “I would like somewhere that would give me a chance of being in the Champions League or a club that has ambitions of being in the Champions League.
“It could be at home or abroad. I have always liked the thought of broadening my horizons and learning a bit more and at the moment I am quite comfortable watching and learning.”
Moyes hasn’t closed the door to managing in England, but that seems unlikely any time soon. Given his failure at Manchester United and the preferences of he Premier League’s other Champions League contenders, the former Toffees boss looks like a poor fit for the rest of England’s top clubs.
Moyes has an affinity for the German Bundesliga, but given his strengths, France seems like the best fit. In terms of the league’s style, Moyes’s tactics, and the type of players he prefers, the Scot could make an instant impact in Ligue 1.
Looking across the league’s teams, however, it’s difficult to see a logical landing spot for Moyes. Lyon and Marseille just changed managers. Christophe Galtier is entrenched at Saint-Étienne. René Girard is coming off a successful first season at Lille. While Monaco, having recently looked hired Leonardo Jardim, may not see much managerial stability under Dmitry Rybolovlev, it seems unlikely the Russian billionaire would content himself with somebody who failed so dramatically at another big club.
A similar look at Germany and Spain sees a few more jobs available, but the stylistic fit isn’t as good. Perhaps that could work in his favor, should a future employer want to redefine their club. Regardless, no matter where you go among Europe’s biggest leagues, head coaching gigs with Champions League teams are going to be highly sought-after positions.
If he’s willing to expand his preferences to include Turkey, the Netherlands, Greece, and Russia, Moyes could find himself back in Champions League even sooner, with high profile, high payroll teams in those leagues potentially in better position to give the ex-United boss a shot.
