David Moyes was very quick to point out that a below strength West Ham had earned a magnificent point against the side that beat Real Madrid 3-1 and declared: ” I thought we did a really good job.”
After collecting four points from the last two games Moysie added: “It’s a good point for us.”
He admitted shock at the magical Pedro Obiang goal saying: “I have no idea where that strike came from Pedro because I can’t say I’ve seen it, but I’ve got to say he didn’t half strike it sweetly. We didn’t have many shots but the one we did have was very good.
“I had a look of disbelief on my face and rightly so, because we hadn’t been up the pitch that often.
“After we scored, Kouyate had a great chance to make it 2-0, too, so we might not have had a lot of shots and if we’d gone 2-0 up it would have been a real surprise, but going 1-0 up was a big enough surprise for me at the time!”
Marko Arnautovic, Michail Antonio, James Collins and Jose Fonte were all unavailable but his selected team produced a truly resolute performance to go 15th in the League.
He told the official site: “That’s the team which beat Real Madrid 3-1, so we shouldn’t be surprised we only had a few shots or be surprised at the way we played, and perhaps you shouldn’t be surprised we took a point because we went close against Manchester City and we beat Chelsea and drew with Arsenal.
“You’ve got to say we’re doing one part of it right and we’d like to do the other part of it much better, obviously, but I’m the coach and I have to try and find a way of getting results with the players available. We need to change and find a way of winning the next games we have against teams around us in the table.
“It’s hard work on the touchline when you’re playing against Tottenham with their quality of players and the amount of attempts they had on goal, but the players have been drilled to make sure they do the right things and make it hard for Tottenham to score and I thought they did a really good job at it.”
I fear we will lose chicarito if he’s not played to his strengths. I’m no Ayew fan but he is actually a better footballer and playmaker than little Pea who needs to be fed the ball in the box to be most effective. Maybe Chicarito with Ayew, Carroll or Big Arnie supplying him.
Having said that, what a great result against the Spuds. COYI
The most important thing Moyes said in the above article is ‘ We need to change and find a way of winning the next games we have against teams around us in the table’.
A great performance last night but we will need a different set up to turn over our close rivals. That means the midfield have to be solid at home.
Obiang / Nobles/Kouyaté, all were great last night but must stop teams attacking us when our own attacks break down.
Noble won’t be great at that but will balance the other two with better distribution.However,
Moyes may find a different route.
Yeah one thing I noticed again that Spurs didn’t capitalise on was a fast counter attack often when we had set plays it was only Zaba hovering around the half way line with occaisionally Obiang slightly further forward, Spurs had the space and opportunity to counter but for whatever reason took the ball about 50 yards at pace then slowed it down which imo was a mistake for them but great for us, I wonder if Reid is partially sighted in his right eye because he is unaware of what is happening to that side of him, he only looks good as a left CB and none of our defenders or midfielders get out fast enough to close players down which has been the same ever since Sam left, last night that allowed Son to score but we should really be closing players down higher up the pitch to break up the play in areas much better for us to attack from.
Now it’s business time. The next 5 games will define our season. As Moyes says, this is classic west ham. turn up against the big boys and struggle against those around us. Until the end of Feb every game is a) very winnable and b) against a team close by in the table. Need 10 points at least.