Beto shares true thoughts on Moyes and what he overhears Everton boss saying
Ahead of the Merseyside Derby at Anfield, Beto lifts the lid on his need to score goals, his relationship with David Moyes and the manager always speaking to others about him at Everton and what he does to relax
Everton striker Beto is gearing up for the Merseyside Derby at Anfield
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Everton striker Beto is gearing up for the Merseyside Derby at Anfield(Image: Tony McArdle)
Beto admits that he needs goals but insists he and David Moyes have “a very good relationship” – even though he claims the Everton manager sometimes checks with third parties about his scoring claims in training.
After netting in back-to-back games against Mansfield Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers before the international break, the 27-year-old spearheaded the Blues attack against Aston Villa last time out.
But despite getting into several good goalscoring positions, he squandered several golden opportunities before making way for £27million summer signing from Villarreal, Thierno Barry, in a goalless draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Beto is under no illusions that such profligacy against Liverpool in tomorrow’s Merseyside derby at Anfield is likely to be punished and that when you’re the main striker for Everton, you need to be hitting the net.
He said: “For me it’s a normal thing. It is normal for a striker. You always need to prove yourself, even if it is just for you. A striker needs to score goals, and I need to score goals.
“If I score, I’m a good player, if I don’t score, maybe I’m not so good. It’s the life of a striker.
“If a striker doesn’t score goals, the fans, the gaffer, they need to demand this from a striker. That is at every club.
“For me, it’s okay to get that pressure, because it makes me work even harder to try to score goals. I think that I need to prove to myself, not just for the staff or for the fans, but prove to myself that I’m the number nine, I’m here, I want to score, and I will score, and I will give the team confidence.
“Before, my problem was more the way I played. Now I’m more secure in that, I’m more confident in the way I play.
“It’s just the goals. We played four games (in the Premier League), I have one goal, and I want to score more and I will do it.”
Following his misses against Unai Emery’s side, Beto went through what he could do better with first-team coach Leighton Baines in an attempt to put things right at Anfield.
He said: “I analyse straight after the game. When the game is finished, I know what I did good and wrong, and then normally I speak with the staff. I speak with Leighton.
“We spoke a lot about the chances. He said: ‘I need to do this, this, this, and we’re gonna work on it during the week’.
“Maybe the same chances are going to happen in the next game, and I need to remember what I did wrong in the last game to do it right in the next game. So for me, it’s like this, I had a couple of chances that I needed to at least do better, put the ball on target, and I didn’t, so I learn with that, and I’m confident, I’m really confident this season.
“Having Jack (Grealish) it’s obviously a good addition to the team – Jack, Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall), and you have Iliman (Ndiaye). It’s always good to have these kind of players, but our back four is playing really well, Jordan (Pickford), the goalie is really good, and our midfield, even when it changes, keeps the same energy.
“We can attack with the players that we have on the bench. I think the squad is more complete.
“So, yeah, we are motivated. We see the opportunity to go there, to play our game and get the three points.”
Beto joined Everton for £25.8million from Udinese on August 29, 2023 but only completed two Premier League games in 18 months under Sean Dyche. After scoring five goals in his first campaign in England, he then doubled that tally last season.
Asked how he feels he’s done since signing for the Blues, Beto said: “If I speak about me, myself, it is not that I didn’t like my time at Everton, but I didn’t like the way I performed until today. I feel like I could have done more, even if I didn’t have the minutes, because in my mind, even if I come off the bench, 10 minutes, five minutes, I need to find something, score, or create a chance, and I didn’t do that before when I wasn’t playing.
“But now that I’m playing more, I’m okay, it’s good, but I think I can do better. I can always improve in terms of performances, goals, because last season, when I started the season and when I finished the season, I think I was a different player.
“I improved a lot in some aspects of my game, and in terms of goals too, but in terms of my all-around game, I think I improved, so I think that I can improve more. I can be better.”
So what did Moyes tell him that previous manager didn’t? Beto said: “When the gaffer arrived, we played Brighton (in the first away game).
“He played Dom (Calvert-Lewin), but he told me: ‘Keep wo
