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ESPNsoccernet: England | |
Everton manager David Moyes says his side is producing the best standard of football since he has been at Goodison Park.
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The club sit fourth in the Premier League table after a strong start, having lost just one of their first nine games in the competition this season.
Only three teams have scored more league goals than Everton this term, and Moyes believes this current Everton side has an attacking potency unlike any previously under his control.
"This is the best we've played in my time here," he said. "I couldn't say yet if it's the best team because the side that finished fourth (in 2004-05) and got into the Champions League were very consistent, resistant and ground out results.
"This team has an awful lot of attacking options. We can score and create chances. I hope we're still pushing for top four at the end of the season, I don't know if we will be because of the quality you need to be there.''
Moyes is unconcerned by an apparent dip in from from striker Nikica Jelavic. The Croatian has fired four goals in 10 matches so far this season, a rate which is down on last season's tally of 11 in 16 following his January arrival from Rangers.
"If we keep giving him the opportunity to score goals, he'll come back because he's a really good goal scorer," Moyes said. "In the second half of last season he was the one getting one or two goals and getting us out of sight. At the moment we're missing his fire, but players go through different periods of form during the season.
"I've told him to keep going and that his goals will come. He's a really important player for us who made such a big difference last season. The team have improved so we're giving him chances to score. He will score; I have no doubt of that."
Whilst Jelavic may be misfiring, Marouane Fellaini has contributed with his fair share of goals from midfield. His brace in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Fulham took his league tally for the season up to five, a total which began with his winner against Manchester United in the opening round of fixtures.
"Fellaini has taken the goal scoring on when we needed it. He's a really good player and was a handful at all times against Fulham," Moyes said.
Despite their impressive start to the season Moyes was disappointed that Everton failed to take all three points at Craven Cottage in a match they dominated.
"You need to get the points on the board and we missed the opportunity to do that. I've said 10 games is a good time to assess your start, and we've had a good start compared to our usual starts. We've had a couple of games where we've felt hard done by, but against Fulham we have ourselves to blame," said Moyes.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report