IT’STTIME!

Moyes: Cup of cheer is overdue so our lads need to do a Trev

DAVID MOYES reckons it is high time one of his West Ham stars created a moment of FA Cup magic to rival Sir Trevor Brooking’s.

The Hammers legend headed home the goal (above) which won the 1980 final against Arsenal at Wembley.

But, since then, success in the competition has been hard to come by, with the penalty defeat by Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in 2006 the closest they have come.

Challenge

Manager Moyes sees no reason why his men can’t go on a run in the competition this season, though, and give Hammers fans some new memories to hold dear.

Ahead of today’s clash with Leeds, he said: “It is time. We have a team that could easily, given the right draw, given the right moment, challenge anyone for the FA Cup.

“But we have to get through the first tie – and it’s a tough tie.

“I have not seen much of Sir Trevor recently because of

Covid, but I’ve been at a couple of functions with him and had dinner with him a while back as well.

“I would like to have him around more often, seeing the players, I have said that with so many of the other former players, I’d love to get more of them in to say hello over time, but Covid has made that really difficult.”

Brooking had a profound influence on the club, both during his career and after it.

And another man of whom the same can be said about his playing days is Mark Noble.

It is 17 years since the 34-yearold first made a Cup appearance for the club and Moyes knows he will stay close when he retires at the end of the season.

He added: “Mark is a big voice in the dressing room, he is a leader.

“His development of Declan Rice and how he has looked to put an arm around him – and not only Declan, but Ben Johnson and a few of the other young boys who have come through the academy – has been great.

“He’s a real West Ham boy and I can see Nobes still being around here in the future.

“The role is still to be decided, but he is someone who has got leadership in his own way. I don’t know exactly if it will come on the coaching field, but certainly around the club he is an inspiration.”

Noble (left) could well play today as Moyes looks to balance the rigours of wanting to do well in the Premier League, Europa League and Cup.

He added: “At the moment, it is nearly an impossible balance to get it right.

Balance

“I would love to have a good run at the FA Cup, but I want to do well in the Europa League, if I can do that as well.

“Also, because of our league position last season and what it took, it gave us the chance to be in the Europa League. So you don’t want to give up your Premier League games very easily.

“We want to try to challenge the top teams.

“The balance of the whole thing is really difficult to get right.”