David Moyes has insisted that it was he that made the decision to sell Mikel Arteta to Arsenal, not chairman Bill Kenwright.
The Spaniard left Merseyside for a fee of £10m in the final hours before the end of the transfer window, and the team's lack of signings in return has left supporters disillusioned with the lack of investment at the club.
Fan group Blue Union have staged protests outside Goodison Park and addressed a letter to Kenwright to express their anger, but Moyes has been quick to jump to his chairman's defence.
"I make the decisions here," said Moyes. "It wasn't the chairman telling me I have to sell.
"Mikel wanted to play in the Champions League and I owed it to him to give him the opportunity.
"In the 10 years I've been here, we've finished in the top 10 seven out of 10 times. If people think that Everton should be doing much better than that, they need to be looking at things."
Arteta made 174 league appearances for the Toffees in eight seasons at the club.
