MATCH FACTS
DAVID MOYES reckons Declan Rice is worth well in excess of £100million and, if a pandemic was not about to prune football’s money tree, he might be right.
The problem with Moyes’ assertion is that any footballer rated in the £100m-plus bracket is going to want to play Champions League football at some stage. That stands to reason.
“I want to keep Declan thinking that his ambitions can be achieved here at West Ham,” said Moyes (above).
Quite frankly, on this evidence, there is little chance of that.
Considering West Ham, even after this defeat, are only three points adrift of fourth place and have a game in hand, that sounds particularly harsh. But ambition is not just about a league table position. Ambition is about believing you can go toe-to-toe with the elite.
Leaving aside the fact that Spurs currently lie seventh, Liverpool eighth and Arsenal 10th, there is still this perception of a Big Six.
It is probably shared by Moyes.
Since his return to West Ham in late December 2019, Moyes has faced Big Six opposition on 17 Premier League occasions and has won twice. He has lost 12 times. Moyes is not alone. There must be others with similar records. It is tough to compete against the big spenders.
But as Rice acquitted himself well in a narrow but predictable reverse, he must have looked around and wondered about ambition.
Where was the ambition before Craig Dawson headed into his own net early in the second half?
Where was the ambition in a first half that featured not one single serious attempt on goal from the visiting team?
The diseased loan system did not allow the West Ham manager to field his strongest side, although judging by the caginess of Moyes’ approach to this fixture, he might not have played Jesse Lingard even if he had been allowed to.
Yes, many teams come to places such as Old Trafford and play purely on the counter and, until going behind, Moyes had only containment on his mind.
Which is fine. But containment does not scream ambition.
And containment does not keep £100m-plus players.
Manchester United have only lost one of their last 23 Premier League games (W14 D8), this after three defeats in their opening six games of the season. West Ham have lost 50 per cent of their 12 Premier League games this season against sides starting the day above them in the league (W4 D2 L6), compared to just 7 per cent of their other 15 matches (W10 D4 L1). Man Utd have kept four straight clean sheets in the Prem for the first time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, last doing so in January 2018 when Jose Mourinho was at the helm.
Only Leicester (4) have benefitted from more own-goals in the Premier League in 2020-21 than Man Utd (3, same as Liverpool), with Lewis Dunk and Jan Bednarek the other two players to do so against the Red Devils this season, alongside Craig Dawson.