Moyes has it SO right in this positional search

Long term Claretandhugh Facebook follower Michael Miller has been looking at the reasons for David Moyes’ enthusiasm for a top central defender and gives his view on the situation here.

By Michael Miller

I didn’t realise Oggy was rising 34 but despite that – if that’s the right word –  he had a fantastic season until his injury sidelined him.
His attitude is spot on, a big-hearted, brave and reliable player who is a real asset to the Club – I had him as my HOTY until our Czech-mates started to do the business!
Moyes seems to have set his heart on Tarkowski and I’ve always thought he was a good player and a real leader at Burnley.
From what we read he wants to come back to London, and that Burnley have already signed his replacement, so the deal to bring him in looks almost a sure thing!
Central defenders suffer lots of knocks and are prone to injuries, also the nature of their work means they are more likely to receive more than their fair share of bookings and sendings-off, which leads to them missing games through suspension!
We therefore need real depth in that position – Moyes has also at times experimented with three central defenders (with Cresswell on the left and Masuaku in the wing-back position) – I’ve always thought this system works pretty well but I would prefer three ‘proper’ defenders with Cresswell in the wing-back role!
All this adds up to us requiring real depth for the central defender positions – Tarkowski, Ogbonna, Dawson and Diop (with Rice as a ‘special’ back-up) looks good to me!
 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon