David Moyes said during the London Stadium Premier League game against United that he was going to do everything in his power to stop West Ham being seen as a soft touch by officials.
He admitted that in his time at other clubs that was the general perception of West Ham. He didn’t use the word but flaky comes to mind and as a result similar decisions were handed down against the Irons.
It was all prompted by a goal which should have been disallowed when it curled into play from a goalkeeping clearance having clearly been out of play on its way upfield.
The linesman failed to see it because he was too busy chasing upfield to check offside but a furious Moyes made his point very clearly after the game.
And it’s ironic that ahead of the FA Cup match tonight his first step in that direction comes with Tomas Soucek’s successful appeal.
Having said all that, the manager has terrific respect for United and knows how tough things are likely to be at Old Trafford.
He told www.whufc.com: ” I’m looking forward to this FA Cup game.
It’s obviously a tough draw for us, and quite often in the Cup you need to get good draws on your journey as well
But I also believe to get to the final you’re going to have to play some big sides on the way there. You’re probably going to have to win some big games.
This is a really big game for us – a tough game. We’re up against a pretty much in-form side.
Given the time that he’s been given, Solskjaer has started to mould together a really young, exciting team.
They’ve had a couple of really good players come through their academy, like Greenwood, Rashford, to name just a couple who’ve certainly helped. They’ve brought in a couple of players to help their team also.
I think they’re building a nice team. That time Ole’s been given has made a big difference and given him the chance to do that.
Overall, I think we’ve competed quite well against the top teams. We’ve got a bit to go yet to be at that level, and that can take a long time.
I hope we can go to Old Trafford and give them a very good game. We want to try and get through to the next round of the FA Cup.”
He’ll also be watching the decision making pretty closely!