David Moyes went straight into his reasons for not buying a striker in the winter window when addressing the media at his virtual pre-match Aston Villa this lunchtime (Tues).
He and the board – who many always tend to hold responsible – were fully expected to find a back up to Mikey Antonio and their failure to do so was immediately met by the noise of outrage on social media.
Moyes, however, made no excuses for his decision, instead concentrating on the reasons why as he prepared for the difficult trip to Villa Park.
With Mikey fit and Jess Lingard coming into his thinking it will be interesting to see how he plays it for the match between the two most improved teams of the season.
The first question off the lips of the journalists was of course why he hadn’t bought a striker and although similar to previous responses the manager sounded entirely emphatic when giving his responses.
He said: “We were looking. We want to try to pick correctly. We had money to spend and the owners had money to spend after we sold Seb Haller earlier in the window, so we had that.
But we’re trying to do things differently here at West Ham and we’re not going to follow the same paths that have been followed before.
So, I chose to keep my money and hopefully I’ll be able to start another rebuild come the summertime.
I was interested looking at some of the bigger clubs as well, in the period we’re in, and they’ve needed a centre-half or a centre forward but, partly due to the pandemic and the talk about the lower-league clubs needing money as well, as you have to be mindful of what you’re spending.
And he’s not protecting the owners, he’s protecting himself and good luck to him.
On the contrary. Moyes is definitely his own man.
So why the suggestion that he is protecting the owners. I’m not being obstructive, I simply don’t understand your point. He has no need to protect them at all
Totally agree and can only assume you didn’t read properly what was written.
I READ IT PROPERLY AND ASSUME YOU MEAN BY PROTECTING THE OWNERS HE’S NOT HIS OWN MAN!
Is Moyes disappointed we didn’t sign a top striker target? Yes. Is he protecting the owners by downplaying his disappointment? Yes. Talk of being aware of not spending huge amounts of money in the middle of a pandemic when other people in society are struggling financially etc, is that just an excuse for not spending the money? Maybe.
Is it a good thing though to waste money on lesser quality players just because they are available now rather than wait until better quality becomes available in the summer? No.
I think Moyes is doing things the right way. How many players have we had in the past that proved to be a massive waste of money? Better to wait until the right ones come along and I applaud him for that.
Utter nonsense – so now he’s a liar in order to protect him against a few mouthy people on social networks who don’t like the owners. Good God that’s giving them an importance they don’t have in anybody’s world. Give credit for him having his own mind. Maybe you haven’t noticed what the others have spent. The winter market spend throughout the PL amounted to £70m which included £20 million on Benrahma which will be paid over four years
My view is that the decision to not splash out on a striker in the traditionally overpriced January market was completely down to Moyes. If it had been down to Sully, we’d have brought in at least two overrated and overhyped ‘Stars’ who would have misfired and flopped.
Moyes’ ploy of playing with one genuine front man backed by an aggressive spread of midfield scorers can work. Yarmo – for all his many faults – plays there for Ukraine and is their highest-ever scorer. Add in Soucek, Bowen and eventually Benrahma and there really is no need to panic.
To be pragmatic it makes no sense to rush into the market. We all agree that we are short on strikers, and that we need to look at CM cover (perhaps other positions as well). Either way, and as stated above and before, it’s about quality and not quanttity; West Ham requires both and not just the latter.
The seasons expectations was to avoid relegation. The seasons hopes was a mid table result. We are now sitting in a great place, but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and splash cash to “secure” a top 4/6 finish. Mid-table finish and a good team spirit and togetherness would’ve sufficed for me at the start of the season and still does.
If Moyes can spend some time (not just money) to set up a proper scouting function and prepare for the summer window with identified targets and a process that starts long before deadline day, that’s better than the alternatives in my opinion.
I don’t get the negativity. Can people not appreciate the work Moysie has done and that we need to trust him. GSB get so much stick for the “scattergun” approach, yet when we don’t buy anyone it seems as though some people would rather we just buy anyone!
This is a club that is being slowly turned around and we have to trust in it.
Totally agree. GSB got really lucky getting Moyes, not once but twice. The second time they got really, really lucky, given how he’d been treated 18 months previously. Given time, he could be the best thing that’s happened to our club since Greenwood was in charge. Moyes has the best part of 20 years’ experience of running – and I mean running – the football side of PL football clubs. The dozens and dozens of negative keyboard warriors have a grand total of zero years’ experience between them. I know which view I respect.
The majority of fans and pundits arnt moaning at the job he has done because it’s been great..its all about having 3/4 of a striker (Antonio) in a premier team tgst are lying 5th in the table …there is a scatter gun approach and then there is pure stupidity and stubbornness not to buy a striker we desperately needed even with haller on board let alone once he sold him …everyone is entitled to there opinion but if you cant see this then something is clearly wrong… remember 1 forward in a prem team !!!! Most have minimum 3…not only that but our striker hasn’t ever stayed fit for a full season…so negative NO ,,worried things will go down hill once Antonio loses his form like Saturday against liverpool or gets injured …yes …….any player can play there but none of them are forwards…I’m staggered any fans thinks it’s ok with 1 striker but then it would be boring if we all felt the same….I’ve played and managed teams myself all my life and even in Sunday league football you would never have 1 striker in ur squad ..personally I think its laughable..
wE ALL KNOW that but I think given the window has passed without one it is wearying to keep reading about it despite agreeing with you when there is so much to be pleased about
I think Moyes has a player or two in mind, and they just weren’t available in this window. Probably in the summer. Hopefully this is the case, and he would rather wait until the summer and get the player he wants 100%. This is better than buying someone, who he believes is no where near as good as his target. The surprise, is given this, maybe a short loan deal would have seen us over, until the summer. Not getting at least a loan forward is taking a huge risk. But he is doing a great job until now, so in Moyes we trust.
The loan apart I’m glad were not buying the a striker because his the only one available at this time,
Right decision.
How well Lingard fits in with the team will determine what is needed.
Philips owned Antonio last match and a second striker up front may be needed in such circumstances. Lingard might well fit that role.
Didn’t like how we approached the last match but Moyes is doing the job.