EVERTON are playing with more flair than at any other point under David Moyes.

The Goodison manager suggested as much during a conversation I had with him the other week.

But the facts, and performances, speak for themselves.

Everton have managed to play a more expansive game without compromising much of the steel and strength that has been the bedrock of their previous decade with Moyes in charge.

This change has been gradual since January when Nikica Jelavic, Steven Pienaar and Darron Gibson were snapped up in the transfer window.

And if Everton can keep the majority of their best players fit, then I think they can be serious challengers for Champions League qualification.

That, of course, is a big if, when you look at the comparative strength in depth of the other main contenders.

If we accept that Manchester United, City and Chelsea will be in the top three, that leaves Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as the others going for fourth place, both of whom have bigger squads and deeper pockets than Everton.

Everton’s change in style has been down to the players Moyes now has as much as his tactics.

You can’t play with flair if you don’t have the right players. Everton are more expressive; Pienaar has made a massive difference, while Jelavic and Marouane Fellaini are causing problems further up the field.

Jelavic arrived with a bang but has struggled of late, and it happens with strikers that they sometimes go through lean spells.

Everybody knew about him from his days with Rangers, but perhaps nobody studied him properly. Defenders have since had the time to look at him up close and work him out.