It’s very hard to win...when it happens, it’s amazing what it does to you
MOYES RELISHING TOP-FOUR CHASE
GIDDY on the high provided by their team’s Premier League exploits, a section of West Ham fans have taken to describing their manager as ‘The Moyesiah’. Once greeted with a banner proclaiming him ‘The Chosen One’ at the outset of his ill-starred reign as Manchester United manager, David Moyes will not be getting carried away by the religious imagery.
There is, however, something special brewing at the London Stadium. Over the past decade, Moyes has been paid a fortune to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and savoured the rich culinary delights of San Sebastián as part of his lifestyle managing Real Sociedad.
None of it, however, has provided the kind of joy he is deriving from his current job. Indeed, the Scot admits he’s not been this energised by a job since he broke into the Premier League’s top four with Everton.
‘It’s amazing what winning does to you,’ he beams. ‘We are in a business where it is very hard to win and, when it happens, it gives you a good feeling. You can be different. You can be much more positive.’
Going into the weekend’s fixtures, Moyes has the east London club well placed to replicate his Merseyside heroics of 2005.
Today’s visit of Brendan
There’s no guarantee we will get fourth place...but we are trying
Rodgers’ Leicester City pitches two high-flying underdogs into direct competition as they compete for a Champions League place.
Last week’s 3-2 win over Wolves saw Moyes’ West Ham leapfrog Chelsea into the Premier League’s fourth place. Rodgers’ Leicester sat a place higher in third.
‘I had 11 years at Everton and I finished fourth once,’ says Moyes.
‘I have had one full year at West Ham and we are competing for fourth.
‘There’s no guarantee we will get it. It’s probably something that will just be beyond us because of the level of the teams around us. But we are trying.’
And yet the fact remains that Moyes’ work has left fellow Londoners and Champions League regulars Tottenham struggling to keep pace, while Arsenal lag even further behind in the standings.
To say all of this seemed unlikely when Davids Gold and Sullivan decided to rehire the Glaswegian in December 2019 would be understatement.
The club’s supporters were certainly underwhelmed by the thought of reverting to the man who had steered them to safety on a short-term contract before giving way to the supposedly more refined Manuel Pellegrini.
Moyes, however, has grabbed the challenge by the neck. Installed just in time to freshen up the squad in the January window of 2020, he made two key signings that not only staved off another relegation threat but transformed the DNA of his side.
‘On building a team you have to start somewhere,’ he reflects. ‘So what’s it going to be? You might decide to get a really good football player in, you might decide to get a No9 to score from crosses.
‘I wanted more energy. I wanted to become more athletic and I wanted us to be more competitive. I thought that would be a good starting point.’
Last refuge of the panic buyer and the desperate, the January window is a tough market in which to source value yet Moyes managed it in 2020 by shopping in the Czech Republic and a tier down at Hull City.
Tomas Soucek, formerly of Rangers’ Europa League conquerors Slavia Prague, has been a revelation in midfield while Jarrod Bowen’s input from the left flank has varied the Hammers’ attacking play.
‘Once we got those two in, we thought: “Wow, this is going in the right direction”,’ adds Moyes. ‘We could score goals and suddenly went from being one of the least athletic teams in the Premier League to being one of the better sides.’
It would be remiss not to mention Covid. West Ham had issues settling in to their new London Stadium home in the wake of the flit from the Boleyn Ground in 2016 but have had no issues dealing with an empty bowl. Only Manchester City have secured more Premier League points on home turf this term. And yet the pandemic has challenged the manager’s methods and forced him to broaden his skill-set.
He explains: ‘I do feel that my experience and understanding of what might be needed has helped this season, but I have also had to change a lot of things.
‘The way we work, our communication, a lot is different. I’ve really tried to grow the team quickly. I saw signs of that growth when we beat Leicester and Wolves earlier in the season — I had to try and jump on that, made sure it flourished and got it going.
‘Leicester have had that going on for two or three years so, for us, this is really just the start.
‘I always think to get any growth you need good foundations. We have brought in two or three players but there is a feel of stability around the club.’
The 400th Premier League appearance of club captain Mark Noble is one of the subplots to today’s match. The head-to-head between Moyes and Rodgers promises to be even more fascinating.
Back in 2013, as managers of United and Liverpool, they spearheaded England’s greatest club rivalry.
To see them now compete as Champions League contenders at less fashionable clubs is a reminder of why they got there in the first place.
Moyes believes the Premier League’s fascination with importing foreign coaches has been to the detriment of aspiring British managers.
He’d also love to see more given the chance to follow his own example and try coaching in another country. Fluent in Spanish, Rodgers would make the likeliest contender and Moyes would enjoy watching the former Celtic boss try his luck in La Liga.
He continues: ‘I can’t speak for Brendan but he has done a brilliant job wherever he has been.
‘We have both had a chance to be at big clubs round the country but I think we are in a world now where a lot of people would rather look overseas to find their managers.
‘We are quite happy to bring in managers from Germany, Italy, Spain — it’s a big thing to get into our league, yet we can’t seem to get too many of our managers out there. ‘I don’t think we export enough British managers to the big European leagues — the knowledge you can bring back and pass on to the young future coaches is really important.
‘I think we have some unbelievably good British managers in the Premier League and the lower leagues and I hope they get chances.
‘Brendan went to Celtic and did an incredible job there, and I went abroad myself. I hope that Brendan and myself to a lesser extent will give people the thought that we have to try to do that. Then maybe some of the overseas clubs will start coming for the British coaches.’
‘I’VE HAD BAD NICKNAMES IN MY TIME SO, IF THE MOYESIAH IS WHAT I’VE BEEN GIVEN, I’LL TAKE IT’
I have an idea how I want West Ham to go. Leicester is a good model
Moyes’ management is backed up by his assistant and long-time ally Alan Irvine, with former England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce providing additional know-how.
Moyes was grateful to both for taking the team to the King Power Stadium earlier on the season after his positive test for coronavirus and helping deliver one of West Ham’s landmark performances of the season, the Hammers chalking up a 3-0 victory.
‘That was a tremendous result,’ says Moyes. ‘I watched it from afar and I was ecstatic.
‘I think we are capable. We have been challenging all the teams, we might not win every game but we are really pushing it and the boys know it. I am not letting them away with it, we are going again and the whip is out.
‘We are keeping them at it because we are jumping the last eight fences now and we want to get as close as we possibly can.’
Additional momentum has been provided by another fantastic piece of January business, one that brought Jesse Lingard to London on loan from Manchester United. The attacking midfielder has flourished, earning an England recall as his team challenges for the Champions League.
Securing fourth — or even higher — would gain Moyes full access to a competition which slipped through his grasp in 2005.
With Liverpool parachuting straight into the group stages after winning the Champions League in Istanbul that summer, Everton’s league placing was sufficient only to secure a play-off tie against Villarreal.
In what would prove the final match of Pierluigi Collina’s career, the Italian referee ruled out a Duncan Ferguson goal at a pivotal stage in the match and
Everton missed out. The man in the opposing dugout that night? Pellegrini.
‘That would probably have changed the dynamics of Everton forever,’ reflects Moyes. ‘The chance to get in the Champions League and play the games, the extra money and the profile...
‘It was a really tough draw. Villarreal got to the semis and only lost on penalty-kicks to Arsenal.
‘If you are a big football club, you want to be in Europe. West Ham is a big football club and I am going to try and get them in one of the European competitions.
‘We know we are up against it. There are some serious teams around us. If we can’t do it, I don’t think we would turn round and say we are disappointed with our season.’
Strongly and persistently linked with the Celtic and Scotland jobs whenever a vacancy arises, Moyes is yet to coach in his homeland but is on record as saying he would one day like to manage his country.
The Celtic job again lies vacant but the 57-year-old has too good a thing going to consider a flit home at this point in time.
‘You continually have to change and evolve yourself as a manager,’ he adds. ‘New things come in, there are a lot of young coaches, a lot more technology.
‘But ultimately you always have to find ways of winning. Style is important. As is having a vision to see where you want the team and the club to go to.
‘I have an idea of how I want it to go. Everton is quite a good model. But Leicester City are a very good model, too.
‘At the moment, I am really enjoying the club. There is a lot we can improve on but there is immense potential, a great football club with history.
‘I’m not saying we can get back to those times, but let’s try and aim to get there if we can.’
He’s even relaxed about being hailed The Moyesiah.
‘I’ve had a lot of bad nicknames in my time so, if that’s what I’ve been given, I’ll take that.’