SOCCER AMERICA: How are things with Everton? JOE-MAX MOORE: Everything’s been great so far. Everybody made me feel really welcome – the team, the players, the fans – and it’s really gone as good as I could have hoped for so far. SA: It took some time to get game-fit … JMM: I had played just once in almost two months when I got here [on Dec. 3]. There were a few reserve games [in which] I’d hoped to get my fitness and sharpness back. Those were canceled – just bad weather: frozen fields, too much rain. I just got it back from training, and I’m fit now. I’ve played in a couple reserve games, so I really feel good. I could play 120 minutes if I had to. SA: Where is Walter Smith playing you? JMM: One of the two strikers. SA: Everton’s starting strikers – Francis Jeffers and Kevin Campbell – are getting a lot of attention from Kevin Keegan. How difficult will it be to get a starting job? JMM: They’re very good players – both of them are on the short list for the English team … and they’re both kind of the stars of the team, to be honest. It is going to be hard, but, you know, I’m happy where I am, definitely: playing at a high level every week. You can’t ask for more right now. I signed a long-term [three-and-a-half-year] contract, and I’m confident that in time I’ll hopefully be thought of as a starter on this team. I’ll get my chance eventually, no question. SA: What do you have to do get that chance? JMM: First thing – the most important thing – is to change the game when I come in as a sub. I did that against Tottenham [coming on in the 82nd minute and scoring the equalizer three minutes into stoppage time]. Then through training you need to continue working as hard as you can, and try to give [Smith] more confidence in me in games. I’m not sure he knows I can play in midfield, don’t know if he’s seen me play there. I haven’t trained there at all. SA: Is that something you’d suggest to Walter, that you can play in midfield? JMM: Oh, no. If he asks me, I’d tell him. SA: Talk a little about your first start, Dec. 28 at Bradford, and your goal against Spurs on Jan. 15. JMM: I started at Bradford, played 80 minutes, and I felt really good. I was sharp on the ball, made some good passes and worked hard busting up plays defensively, as well. I had a decent chance with about five minutes left that I wish I had again. I chested the ball down, but the keeper got to the ball before I did. If it had been a little closer [to me], I could have chipped it over him. The goal came off a long throw-in that got flicked on, and I just gambled on making a run to the near post. It popped out to me, and I put it up in the corner. A close-range goal. The fans went nuts – it was a great feeling to get the first one. SA: Were you adamant about returning to play in Europe? JMM: No, not at all. MLS made me an offer, but in the end it wasn’t about money, it was about playing at the highest level. When the opportunity came along, I took it. I couldn’t let it pass me by. I was interested in staying with MLS. I loved my time there. But I think if I’d let this opportunity pass, I’d never be satisfied with myself as a player. To not play at the highest level professionally, other than with the national team, would have been disappointing for me. SA: You’re in Liverpool – are you a Beatles fan? JMM: No, not really. I like a lot of their songs, but … no.