David Moyes has made it crystal clear the Hammers squad is lacking quality and he needs to sort it during the January transfer window.
Speaking immediately after the deeply disappointing draw at Bournemouth he said: “I’ve given players opportunities.
“I’m in a hurry and I have to be in a hurry and because of that I cannot wait three or four months to see how you do.”
Speaking to the official site he said: “Ideally, I’d have had six or seven pre-season games to understand what they’re like and what they do, but I’ve not.
“I’ve got to say every player has shown great desire and is committed in training, but I think we’re short in some areas and overloaded in others. For example, we’ve got lots of forwards, but we’re really short of midfield players.
“I’m pleased with our spirit and I think there’s a bigger hunger and desire to do it, but we’re lacking quality. We’ve got to stop conceding goals as easily as we are at the moment.
“We’ve got quite a few who are comfortable playing on the left, but not so many who can play on the right, so we’ve got a little bit of an imbalanced squad which we’ve got to straighten out in January if we can.”
“I’m pleased with our spirit and I think there’s a bigger hunger and desire to do it, but we’re lacking quality. We’ve got to stop conceding goals as easily as we are at the moment.
Hi Hugh I think the comments are duplicated at least when I read it, yes we lack quality in central midfield if he can convince the chairmen to spend 60 million we might have a chance but the way the market is even that may not be enough.
Thanks Hugh for sharing more of Mr Moyes gems of strategic coaching Insight with us: “I’m in a hurry” (never)’ “we’ve got quite a few comfortable playing on the left” (left peg merchants perhaps?), and “we’ve got lots of forwards” (who fail to score consistently/at all) and, finally, “but we’re lacking quality”. Now it’s that last gem of analysis that truly sets Mr Moyes apart from second-rate coaches like Pochettino, Guardiola, Mourinho, Wenger, Klopp and Conte.
” But we’re lacking quality”…most of last season and all of this is the painful evidence of Mr Moyes’ stunning analysis. How much is Mr Moyes being paid to come up with such cutting edge coaching analysis? Now Mr Moyes has arrived where most of us have been for a year or so, what is he going to do about this situation? Clearly he is unable to coach and transform the ‘lack of quality’ at his disposal: so what next? What are his options? Who will he be in for? Doesn’t the silence of our co-owners seem all the more eerie as crisis descends on us?
A bit harsh there, Ruffellite. I think we’ve seen a lot more ‘coached’ performances since Moyes took over, but the old adage about silk purse from sows ears springs to mind. Under Bilic I couldn’t see us ever scoring to snatch a winner in a game we had lost a lead, but Moyes has at least coached his trademark grit into (some of) them.
Sure, lots of his comments are self-evident, but if he didn’t say them we’d accuse him of blindness and complacency. Of course we have an imbalance in terms of age, positions and our strongest flank. That may well be overcome by youth players (Oxford, Rice, Quinn, Haksabanovic & Co), but throwing them all in could destroy their confidence forever if things go wrong (BFS va Man City, anyone?)
Finally, give the owners a break. They just can’t win. If they talk, we get annoyed at what they say and try to chase them off social media. Stay quiet and you’re worried about an ‘eerie silence’. Let’s see what happens between now and May. If we stay up, maybe Moyes will get a chance to build a team if his own and not have to try and fashion a half decent side out of the lop-sided wreckage of a squad that he inherited.
Really looking forward to seeing Moyes definition of quality. Is it players like Artur who wont make a difference. I watched the Liverpool and Swansea yesterday and kept a close eye on Mawson who seemingly is on Moyes transfer list. I have to say I was not that impressed. I was expecting a lot more from this guy based on the 25m price tag. I think Moyes needs to be careful where he spends his money. I’d like to see the manager sign players who are on the way to the top rather than players who are no longer able to get into top 6 teams. Players like Fellani are not what West Ham need,
Fellaini would bring fighting spirit, but again, he is not a number 6, or a defending midfielder. He is more like a Kouyate type of player. Regardless, I don’t think he would come to West Ham. He is 30, has already made the announcement he is stopping his international career after Russia World cup, and he recently told a Belgian newspaper that he doesn’t have much to prove anymore, and that his only bad spell was his first year at manure. Sounds like he will be sailing to China soon.