Like him or loathe him you cannot begrudge David Moyes' moment of joy, the much maligned Hammers manager, often portrayed as a cartoon zombie, 'ressurected' the fettid and rotting cadava of a team that he inherited from the previous 'daddy of them all' zombie on watch Manuel Pllegrini. There were two exceptions to the bloated imbalanced squad that Moyes had to motivate and mould after taking over the club's management for the second time, his two acquisitions during the January transfer window, Jarred Bowen and Tomas Soucek.
Bowen and Soucek both put in comprehensively solid performances during the Irons 3-1 crucial Barclays Premier League victory over fellow relegation strugglers Watford, the midfielder and winger are nailed on starters in the Hammers first team and played as if they were always meant to be there, with the former having set up a spectacular header for the latter who added to Antonio's well taken strike.
Speaking of the spectacular, the much sought after Declan Rice probably added a couple of Mill to his valuation with a dominant display capped of with a 'worldie' 33 yard belter of a goal that will give Foster nightmares for some time to come! Rice's goal followed a Michail Antonio opener which was swiftly added to by Soukec's goal.
3-0 up before half time was a gratifying score line, but a portent of what was to come was when a 'Nigel Pearson hair dryered squad' took to the field in the second half and promptly scored the sort of goal that teams with a distinct goal advantage tend to concede, as did West Ham. Suddenly all the euphoria evaporated, and memories of the 4-3 defeat to Wimbledon after leading 3-0 at half time came flooding back, fortunately heads didn't drop and David Moyes' team rallied to the cause and saw out a convincing, albeit nervous victory over a Watford team that virtually guaranteed another season, hopefully less traumatic, in the Barclays Premier League.
Almost lost in the hussle and bustle of the second half, was an effort on goal by Sebastian Haller, who had repaced the industrious Bowen, which with almost his first touch would have been a truly spectacular goal, unfortunatley Foster saved extremely well from the Irons record signing.
For a battling Watford team the prospect looks bleak, as soon as their goal scorer, captain and talisman Troy Deeney, had to leave the field due to a persistent knee issue, the visitors looked doomed, they face an away trip to Manchester City and the a final home game against Arsenal.
We did mention in a previous article that West Ham could end up confirming or consigning all three of the teams eventually relegated in three of their last four matches. Bournemouth and Vila would need to win their remaining two games by a twelve or fifteen goal margin respectively to halt Hammers top flight tenure so...Another season like the last will be too much to bare for many fans, particularly those of a nervous disposition, another year, another fear. C.O.Y.I - Ed
Comments
Yes Nev,i would say another
Yes Nev,i would say another battle of a season ahead,must buy Soucek and keep Rice,get Diangana back.It was good to see the players going over to Moyes when Rice scored last night,proving they have respect for him,and credit to Moyes also as he adjusted the squad to what was needed,and it paid off.If only we had played like this earlier,beats me why this club has always done it the hard way.
Not sure they all went over
Not sure they all went over to Moyes essex, Rice went over to Moyes and the rest followed him ,yeah ,splitting hairs i know,
I would love to know what sort of money Rise is on ,wasnt it only at the beginning of last season they finely upped his wages after a bit of argie he was only on 5 gs and i think they went to 25 ,said it before not only the most potentially best player in the prem but inproving day on day , agree we should do all we can to keep him but hes got to be worth 80 million on todays prices ,also Soucec for me has made the difference ,powerful player and a great header oh the ball ,also Bowen ,works his socks off
Fair play to Moyes
Souschef must be signed,bowen,Ants,Rice hopefully will stay but wouldn't be surprised if hes offski,diangana back...fourcandles is getting better,ogg & diop are solid.full backs are a bit of an issue imo but all in all hope for a better season next time
A friend of mine, an avid
A friend of mine, an avid Evertonian said to me that Moyes was a solid manager with no frills attached and one that would take time to get results once he got his squad in order. Moyes did not get a chance to do that first time round as Sullivan wanted more flare, enter Pelligrini and after a great start, disaster as players became confused especially Mark Noble about training and tactics then enter Moyes for his second spell. Will Moyes get to fulfill his contract with that extra year? I would say definately as we are in dire straights financially. I am not keen on David Moyes type of football as he relies on the counter attack and too many long balls for me but he has done his job albeit a close run thing. We will end up like Everton of old or maybe more closely to Burnley under Sean Dyche if we give David Moyes a 3 year contract which has been rumoured by some in the media. At least he will keep us in the Premier League but steady mid table football and not the heights of top 6 football imo.
Maybe just maybe David Moyes will prove me wrong and get us into Europe after a year or two, I hope so because I think he will be here for some time yet.
mid table mediocrity.. I
mid table mediocrity.. I would take that right now!!!
Totally baffled
By the acceptance of Moyes as a full time manager at WHU as his football is dire. We had all the so called dire football under Sam (which also produced "results") but he got crucified. Totally baffled by the hypocrisy of some West Ham fans. This is the guy who bored the arse off Everton fans, dragged Man Utd into the gutter, flopped at Sociedad and actually took Sunderland down after threatening to give a lady reporter a slap. I'm a winner says Moyes as he happily looks at his bank statement.
But he hasnt done bad
Since the lockdown,getting the best out of ants,bowen etc...he also got the best out of Arnie first time around! I'm not saying hes a great manager in the slightest,but who else are we going to get? A premier league winning manager on 10 mill a year? Tried that one already
so whats ahead?
Haller cannot be kept if Moyes insists on playing one up front as he cannot lead the line and i doubt he can be coached to do that job the fullbacks need changing with cresswell/Fredericks being back ups instead of starters for me and as good as Anderson looks in his shorts even this girl can see he just does not do enough to warrant a starting berth in the team.Soucech and Rice look good and i would prefer to see Fornals played behind the striker instead of playing wide Noble God bless him should be an impact sub from next season on maybe draft Sam Cullen into the squad when he comes back from his loan spell,So Moyes has much work ahead of him if we are not to suffer another season like this one and oh yes can i please tell the board and the manager that the LEAGUE CUP is a winnable trophy for us so don't go putting out second stringers because you worry about your Premier league status.
Well said 65 and Dicksy,Moyes
Well said 65 and Dicksy,Moyes is really the best out there,we need to move on with what weve got,and yes,we have had the league winning manager,and it didnt work,we are West Ham,a different club structure altogether we are not Barcelona.
yes agree
Moyes has saved us twice and on that alone deserves at least 2 back to back seasons , after this i would settle for mid table safety and a descent cup run ,
Agree Elt
Oh for a cup run!!!
To win a cup would be great,a
To win a cup would be great,a day out to Wembley,a meal up west after with a few beers to celebrate.......its all a dream.
Let's face it after years of
Let's face it after years of trying and failing miserably to get to the next level, security is what is needed and most of the comments on here believe Moyes can deliver that. I think finally the two Dave's can see that and with reduced funds available for the forseeable future that mid-table mediocrity is really what the aim should be. Build slowly (once again), keep the jewels, lose the baggage. Need two new fullbacks and another midfielder, maybe striker if Haller leaves. Gonna be a slow burn now but flirting again with relegation will result in those jewels leaving at the end of next season
Agree mate
Its been great watching westham last few games,I had nearly given up beforehand!! As long as we have players that give their all & play some decent football thats all we want