BBC Journo shares ‘strange’ David Moyes verdict at West Ham United after European record set in 2-1 win v Freiburg
BBC Sport journalist Simon Stone believes West Ham United manager David Moyes “deserves credit” for having the courage to field strong teams in Europe after their 2-1 win over Freiburg on Thursday.
The Hammers continued their successful start to life in the Europa League with a record-breaking victory in Germany (5 October) after goals from Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd.
The London club clinched an impressive record by becoming the first English side to go 17 consecutive games in European competition without defeat.
Stone, writing on BBC Sport’s live blog (6 October) praised Moyes’ bravery to field “strong” teams to make an impact.
He wrote:
“West Ham’s three-year European escapade continued in Germany last night.
“The Hammers have now gone a record 17 matches unbeaten – incredibly winning 16.
“Now in their third successive European campaign, under David Moyes, they have now played 29 games in Uefa competition, winning 22 and losing just four – two of which were in the Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.
“Moyes deserves credit for playing teams strong enough to make an impact. Having qualified for Europe, it always seems strange to me when managers opt not to pick their strongest sides.”
Tremendous record
Thursday’s win over Freiburg was another impressive milestone for West Ham United who have now become the talk of the European stage after their exploits over the past year, and indeed, Moyes deserves tremendous credit.
17 games unbeaten in Europe is a superb feat, a record, not even Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team or Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team could achieve back then which certainly brings the job Moyes is doing at the London Stadium into the limelight once more.
The Hammers did incredibly well against German opposition to record another impressive European victory. The second-half brought great and unrelenting pressure on their goal but as they always do on this stage under Moyes’ stewardship, the rode those waves pretty remarkably.
West Ham United are simply on the upward trajectory right now and they’re already taking steps in the Premier League to ensure that last season’s domestic disaster does not occur again.
Moyes suffered huge criticism last season as a result but he’s certainly putting those doubts over his managerial qualities to bed right now, with what his team are achieving in Europe. A Europa League triumph this season cannot be ruled out.
In other West Ham news, a senior man has reacted badly to his manager’s decision and is now set to leave the club in the near future.