David Moyes gave his virtual pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon ahead of Tuesday’s visit of West Bromwich Albion and this is what he said:
On Consistency:
Thankfully we have shown it [consistency] at different times and we are on a decent run at this moment in time but I don’t take any of it for granted. We know we are going to have to play really well and work very hard in every game we go into.
It is something which I have been trying to bring, I want a level of consistency. Whether that be in general fixture or in league position over many seasons but we are trying to get a level consistency and I have to say that the players are performing really well.
On what he wants more of during the second half of the season:
I want more of many things, but if I get more of the same attitude the players have shown. The commitment has been brilliant in all of the games but their attitude is great. Round the training ground, round the club, they have been really good and they are showing it on the field. You can see their togetherness, you can see how hard they are working to get victories and long may that continue.
On the transfer window:
I think it helped us greatly last year. I am not sure we would have been a Premier League club if we hadn’t done business last January. but I will say the same things, it has never been a great window nobody has got much time to do it [business], you are not sure of players availability, but if we can find somebody or get somebody who we think can add to the squad and help us get better then we are going to try and do that. We have had one or two offers for players either been rejected or they are not available or the clubs want too much money in our eyes, so it is not as if we are not trying to improve on it [the squad], but i wef don’t get anybody in then that’s the way it is going to be, but it is a transfer window and we are out there trying.
I think we have got a really good squad at the moment, we have players who are really contributing, whether it be in the starting XI or the boys coming off the bench who have done really well. But we have just lost Robert Snodgrass and Seb Haller so we are aware we are two senior players down from where we were a few weeks ago, so if we can get somebody great if we don’t then we will go with what we have got
Michail Antonio fitness update:
It is really difficult for us at the moment, but I think if anything Mick has been managing himself in the games well. I don’t think he is at full tilt at the moment, I think he is doing well, but I know there are another couple of gears for him to go into. I think he is protecting himself slightly at the minute but he is an important part of the team for us, as you saw with his goal on Saturday.
He got us the result, so we have got to be careful with him, but we also want to win games and we want to keep moving forward, so we will try and get Micky ready for the game. I think it is a really quick set of games for lots of clubs and we are no different to the others.
On Sam Allardyce:
I am really glad to see ‘Big Sam’ back in football again, he is a great character, he’s been a terrific manager wherever he has been and he has added so many things to football in this country over so many years.
I am glad to have him back, I hope it is not a successful night when he comes back to the London Stadium tomorrow, but overall I am really pleased to have him back in football. I think Sam has just an ability to press the buttons on players.
He has always recruited well when he has been under pressure and the club he has been at has been under pressure, so from that point of view if we get the same Sam then obviously West Brom will do fine. But I hope that is after tomorrow night.
The difference between this and last season:
I mentioned consistency, but also our form. It took a little bit of time for some players to bed in but we brought two in, in January [2020] and it was probably me having a little bit of time as well to get used to everybody and them get used to me.
After lockdown, we came back and I thought we did very well to make sure we avoided relegation, and then we have kicked on again.
We didn’t start the season particularly well in the first two games but if you take those two games out of it then we have been in really really good form at this present time. We hope that continues and we don’t take it for granted. I understand the players are doing a great job and we are encouraging them to continue improving. We don’t want to finish where we are now we want to pick up a lot more points.
Presser interview transcript credit: Tom Clark Football.London