By Dave Langton
By Dave Langton
David Moyes has a habit of coming out with some very odd post-match comments and he did it again after the defeat to Arsenal.
Jarrod Bowen had gone through on goal during the game, and Aaron Ramsdale, Arsenal’s goalkeeper, rushed out to stop him.
He decided to do so with a slide tackle, and his boot was raised, so Bowen took evasive action and hit the deck. Mike Dean – who is retiring at the end of the season, thankfully – viewed it as a dive and booked him.
Moyes said afterwards that Bowen should have left a foot in, meaning that he essentially asked the winger to ensure that contact was made.
Pictures since show that Ramsdale’s boot was so high that doing could have meant he was dealing with a broken ankle, rather than a caution for simulation.
It was a not unusually awful decision from Dean, but there was no contact, so the correct decision was probably to play on and let the game flow.
But instead, he drew attention to the fact Bowen hit the deck, and Moyes has latched onto it.
Bowen was actually one of our best players against Arsenal and to single him out for criticism felt incredibly harsh.
Not just that, Moyes is actually wrong; there’s not much debate to be had here, he was advocating Bowen ‘leaving a foot in’ and getting clattered.
That’s just what we would have needed ahead of the Europa League semi-final second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt this week.
Poor decision! If intent is as important as the actuality then Ramsdale should’ve been shown red, simple as. As for Moyes’ post match comments I think he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t though sometimes he’ll “go left to go right” esp in front of the cameras, much like the Scot who managed Man U did…
At the end of the day reading too much in to the managers comments is as unedifying as it is pointless. (IMHO.)
Looking at David Moyes post match comment he said he was glad Bowen did not leave his foot in and took evasive action to prevent possible injury and/or contrive to gain a free kick. Moyes expected his players to be honest and was glad Bowen was.
I am utterly appalled and utterly disgusted by Moyes stupid remark. Surely he does not expect, that any player would risk his playing career , to drag a leg so contact was made . If he is serious then he should not be manager
A red for the goalie was the correct card not a yellow for Bowen
We can sit here bemoaning another Mike Dean decision, the second goal and the Bowen booking. Moyes’s remark although unhelpful, it seems to me that the only way West Ham would have gotten a decision with Mike Dean, is to effectively get a player seriously injured.
I for one will be happy to see the back of Dean, he is very much in the mould of Clive Thomas in believing that he is more important than the teams playing. All I want is an official who keeps that game flowing without bias, refs will make mistakes, they are only human. but enough photos have been posted showing that it was a potentially dangerous challenge. Mike Dean is quick enough to consult VAR and lengthily scrutinise, if there is the remotest chance of a Penalty.
You should not be surprised . Moyes is a total non entity ( polite ) as a premiereship manager . A great run in Europe is papering over the cracks . Terrible miss management of transfer activity means we are lite in attack and defence and his refusal to blood the youngsters is a disgrace . What could have been , should have been , a great season is petering away to mid table obscurity unless we win on Thursday which will only happen if the adrenelin kicks in and the players can scrape themselves of off the floor after being run into the ground because of the non existent squad depth . COYI