With West Ham now mathematically safe David Moyes has no excuses not to go for it in home games against Manchester United and Everton at the London Stadium.
West Ham supporters views on the manager seemed to flip after the Stoke City home when Moyes setup for a 5-4-1 formation with no recognised striker. The Hammers were lucky to escape with a draw but it is a pattern we have seen on a number of occasions this season which often doesn’t make for very entertaining football.
Two wins in the remaining two games could move West Ham up as high as tenth in the Premier League and with that comes further financial riches. Tenth place earns £22m in a merit payment compared to £12m for 15th place. Playing for a point will not get us out of 15th spot as we are two points off 14th place with an inferior goal difference. £10m is up grabs! Will Moyes go all out with attacking football to give the fans what they crave! What has he got to lose?
…and dropping two places to 17th would lose the Daves approx £2m…hmm.
Unsurprisingly for this season, I’m a glass half empty kinda supporter.
I was thinking the same Sean, the pressure is off now so why not go all in against both Utd and Everton we have got plenty of motivation to beat them both as Utd deserve a kicking every time we play them and Everton are managed by BFS and are Moyes old club too boot.
Good article Sean!
22 million quid could make the difference of an extra ‘reasonable quality’ player during the summer transfer circus.
In addition,although it is only 2 games, this is a chance to show that the great win against Leicester was no fluke-it may do much to enhance the sagging reputation of our manager.
There does exist a West Ham Way, but it is up to the imagination and creativity of the manager to ‘find it’ and keep it rolling!
I think it’s more important to play some of the youngsters who have played well all season.
Cullen,Browne,Holland,Pask,Burke and Lewis to name a few.
The tired and lazy first teamers can start their holidays.
Kouayate,Zabaletta,Cresswell, et all can step aside
I am not one of those who has been too bothered about the style of football this season,but I agree it makes sense to give it a go in the last two games. I don’t think Man U will want to exert themselves too much with the Cup coming up & Everton looked rubbish against Saints.
I find myself in a bit of a strange position though. You only ever want your side to win, but I worry a bit that if we ended up with 44 points the owners will breathe a sigh of relief & decide radical action is not needed. I think I am right in saying we nailed down survival at exactly the same point last season (maybe the season finished a bit later, but I am fairly sure the Spuds win last year was May bank holiday weekend). Two wins would leave us on pretty much the same points. Part of me can’t believe the Daves would think was even close to good enough, but I just don’t know any more…It comes to something when you are even hearing a small voice saying maybe it will be better for the long term good of the club if we lose…
Have to echo the sentiment of others on this post, there’s no reason not to go all out in these last two matches. Finishing the season strong and showing a commitment to getting points wherever possible can only help both the club and Moyes’ own personal case. Given the context (especially Man United facing down the Cup), there is a real chance for points in both matches with little downside for an aggressive game plan.
The additional payout is a nice incentive as well!
Alternatively £10m extra in prize money…. that’s roughly £200.00 off each season ticket!!!!