Somebody in European football had a wicked sense of humour, arranging the appointment of former Hammers Manager David Moyes as a UEFA technical observer at Euro ’24 to: “See where the future of football is heading“. Pity us, the West Ham fans who had to suffer rigid, defensive and dull football from a bygone era under the Scot for the latter part of his reign. ‘Shame he didn’t get this appointment ten years ago” was my first thought.
In an article entitled ‘Beating the Press and solo skill – tactical trends of Euro 2024’ for BBC.com, Moyes speaks about how fast the game is changing and how ‘You can be left behind if you are not on the ground‘: Some of us would say the style of play he promoted was already from waaaay in the past.
Moyes continues:”I have my own thoughts and principles about how things should be done, but that does not mean I am not adaptable or willing to change- you have to be both if you want to stay in football for very long.” Eh?
This is the ‘Scotosaurus’ who kept playing the same rigid defensive football, shackling the talents of some of our finest including Bowen, Paqueta and Kudus into defensive duties for 70 minutes until panic set in, and causing more than a few murmurs of discontent at London Stadium.
The article did make me smile. With relief. Yes, yes, of course I’m grateful for our trophy. That mad 24 hours will live forever in ‘Treasure’ folklore as well as every other Hammers fan who was in, and around East London or Prague last year. If ever I meet the man I’ll shake him warmly by the hand and thank him for our first trophy in 43 years. But that does not mean I can’t embrace the new era of Lopetegui with the heady whiff of optimism currently in the air.
I sense most Claret and Blue fans will be struck by the irony – as Moyes explains what his UEFA mission is: “The idea is to try and see where the future of football is heading, and what should be fed back to younger coaches at all levels of the game down to the grass roots“.
And – guess what his findings are? “On the tactical side, there is nothing really new that has stuck out as being different or surprising”. Oh.
He then goes onto suggest a ‘smaller detail’ is that teams aren’t trying to “beat the ‘press’ but now play over it, with lots of longer balls.”
Back to the future, then: Young coaches will be taught to embrace Bolton Wanderers and route one football a la Allardyce and Kevin Bloody Davies, circa 2005 again.
Be afraid.
Genuinely one of the worst bits of writing that exists on the Internet. Awful.
We as all Scotsmen should defend David Moyes record as manager of football teams.He has taken West Ham to dizzy heights of European victories and 8th place in the Premier league. Perhaps if your board of directors paid higher wages and paid more for world class players then Moyes may have played a more adventurous game.As it is at the moment I would trust his judgement and experience above your biased reporting.Be careful what you wish for.
Thanks for the comment Derek: David Moyes had money to spend and dithered his way through transfer windows without signing players himself which left our squad paper thin, and sold payers at a huge, multi million loss.
You say ‘biased’ – I’ll say ‘opinionated’ and we will agree to differ. New era today!
Is Moyes joking with ‘long ball theory’? is he proper having a giggle? Half the top quality managers will be shaking their heads in disbelief the other half will be laughing theirs off! as for people saying “stop moaning about moyes” yes you are right we should stick with dinosaur football tactics ignore reality and common sense to fit in with all the woke nonsense we have had forced into our brains. Not really, that was a joke!
Moyes was a great manager for us and actually served up some of the best and most exciting football I’ve seen in a long lifetime of supporting West Ham.
😱🙈
What did your guide dog make of the football
with that comment you’re probably Billy……no mates!
How old are you, 10-15
To be fair we did great during the covid times.
Martin I’m with you mate.
The arrogance and stubbornness of caveman Moyes needs calling out. Yeah we won a trophy as the stars aligned and made it as easy as possible, nothing to do with but the players on the pitch. Recently he was commentating at the Euros and at halftime Scotland were winning and Moyes said they should go for the draw? The other panelist’s were in shock but I wasn’t, there he is, Mr park the bus don’t have a clue.
I will never forgive him for letting Haller and Scamaca (both class) leave us, or forcing them out is a better description. Looking forward to JLo COYI’s⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
He’s gone now so let’s move on please. He ran out of steam and served up some dull football at times … but he saved us from relegation twice, achieved tremendous success and provided three very exciting European seasons … let’s show some gratitude.
👏👏 credit where credit is due, he may have been the most boring manager we’ve had in years but he’s also been the most successful manager we’ve had in years We hadn’t seen any success since John Lyall, so he must go down as a top dog. Slate me if you want but name anyone who has done any better
Iron Rich – this was from Moyes on the BBC Yesterday, so it’s current. I’d have commented if Pellegrini had an article published yesterday.
Zzz stop moaning about Moyes, no one cares. We’ve been crap for the past 30 years, he got us top 10 3 times, a trophy and euro semis and quarters. Sometimes the football was dross.
How crap a fan do you have to be to still be complaining about the guy months after he’s left.
Agree. Do we remember where we finished with Zola and Grant? Dave did fine. But let’s see what’s in store for us now.