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West Ham prove massive point in attacking comeback

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By Hughie Southon

West Ham’s board will be starting to believe – rather than pray – that they made the correct decision in keeping David Moyes going for this season.

However, the next one is something quite different!

Yesterday’s performance was of course outstanding but may have had as much to do with the fact that we went two down early and the players were forced into attacking mode and boy did it pay off.

As Claret and Hugh follower David Pope said today of the pro Moyes brigade: “There will be those who will blame the players when it all goes wrong and the squad and Moyes when it goes right. Spot on!

For me yesterday was all about the boys taking things into their own hands with Mikey, Bowen, Paqueta, Declan and Soucek looking very good. A word too for Coufal who was brilliant front and back.

Whether it was Moyes – as some will hope – or the players who decided on the offensive attitude we will probably never know although it didn’t look that way at the start!

But it does prove one thing very clearly: When the squad decides to start getting into an attacking mode rather than semi or entirely defensive, they really are a very good set of players.

I do believe David Moyes is ultra defensive and as such does not play the West Ham Way – the reason why so many of us like myself were attracted to this wonderful old club in the first place.

The board, meanwhile, will be starting to believe that they got things right in not sacking DM. We hope with all our hearts they are right.

But can we go back to a West Ham Way manager next season PLEASE!

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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

5 comments

  • Clive says:

    Spot on budgie. The idea that the players ignored Moyes instructions is just something to suit their Moyes out agenda. The players went back to playing the Moyes way in actual fact. I think they finally realised that high energy, high work rate fast counter attacking that got us to sixth and seventh under Moyes requires everyone to do it. Everyone on the same page. Moyes demands his players run and press and I think players like Paquetta are now cottoning on to the fact. I think teams did start to work us out the previous year and maybe Moyes thought we needed to change style to a more possession based passing game or maybe the players thought they could play that way but ultimately I don’t think the players are suited to it. We are never going to be Man City. Let’s face it players like Souchek can’t really pass for toffee most of the time. Which is why Moyes said he might have to break the team in order to fix it at the start of the season. I don’t think he imagined it would be broken quite as much though. I think Paquetta is starting to play the Moyes way though. I think he gets it now. I think cornet will also fit Moyes style perfectly once he’s up and running.

  • Budgie says:

    I don’t subscribe to the view that the players ignored Moyes and went for it. They returned to the style of play that got us to 6th and 7th. This style was introduced by Moyes in the first place. My view is that yes he tried to change the style this season to suit the influx of new players and it hasn’t worked. Perhaps the perception was teams had worked us out so change needed.

  • hammerpete6 says:

    I think you are bang on there Hughie, we have been playing this sit back and do nothing for months and it doesn’t work. Yet again we conceded early and looked off the pace – this goes back to the first ten mins of the home leg against Frankfurt that we never recovered from, and we are still doing it. This has DM all over it and it’s awful to support, and I think the players reared up and broke ranks to play their own game, which is where we were with Lingard and then Soucek arriving. Moyes is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory all the time

  • Clive says:

    I don’t think Moyes is an ultra defensive coach at all. I can see Moyes from where I sit and he spends most of his time waving the players forward, urging them to press and attack.

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