I found David Moyes recent comments about a West Ham rebuild quite intriguing. He made the statement during a press conference after the Premier League loss to Aston Villa. To me, Moyes seemed to be implying that Aston Villa were the established team, whilst West Ham were playing catch-up. However, it’s worth revisiting the recent history to put this in perspective.
When David Moyes took over as the manager of The Irons during the 2019/20 season, Aston Villa finished below us in 17th place, narrowly avoiding relegation by a single point. In the following season, West Ham finished a respectable 6th in the Premier League, while Villa spent the season in mid-table obscurity. This pattern continued into the next year.
Moyes West Ham rebuild has been underway since December 2019
So, one must ask: How did Aston Villa manage to pull so far ahead of West Ham during David Moyes’s tenure? Moyes has invested a significant amount of money in player acquisitions during his second stint at The London Stadium, totalling £466 million. Therefore, his comments about trying to catch Aston Villa seem odd.
Moyes expressed admiration for Aston Villa and their manager, Unai Emery, during his press conference. However, his portrayal of West Ham as a club that still needs building, while talking about the Midlander’s as an established team, raised questions. It begged the question: If Moyes believes he has to build the team now, what has he been doing since his return in December 2019, and how much more time is required to complete this task?
In essence, it’s essential to understand why, with substantial investments in players, West Ham haven’t been able to establish ourselves on par with, or perhaps ahead of, Aston Villa?
It’s clear that Emery is a better manager than Moyes, any football fan can see that. I wouldn’t say, man for man, Villa have a better squad or even starting 11 than us. It’s how they are utilised, how they are set up to play, that makes them a better team than us. I imagine if Emery was West Ham manager with our squad (ok, with a better striker, admittedly) we would be at least where Villa are now. The difference between the two teams is down to the ideology of the managers. Moyes is hardly going to admit that though, is he?!
It’s an excuse. There is nothing wrong with the quality of our squad. The problem is how our manager chooses to use the squad. Fact is, Emery laid bare the flaws in our tactics. It’s not our squad that needs to be rebuilt. It’s our manager’s tactics.