Frederik Alves hails ‘insanely nice and good’ David Moyes despite leaving West Ham
Frederik Alves has shared his interactions with West Ham manager David Moyes before he left the club for Brondby in January.
The Dane left the London Stadium after spending the first half of the season on loan at Sunderland, without making a senior appearance for the Hammers.
Football London say that he made the match day squad 13 times last season without getting onto the pitch, and it appears regular football was the driver of his exit, despite the claim that Moyes rated him very highly.
Speaking to Ekstra Bladet, via Football London, the 22-year-old said: “It was hard to say goodbye to the Premier League. It is a great opportunity to say no to. But it has not been that difficult either, because I see a good opportunity in coming to Brøndby. I chase playing time.
“I learned a lot from Moyes, with whom I had a lot of conversations – and who was an insanely nice and good coach. He was a defender himself, so he taught me a lot about positioning and how to do it.
“In our conversations I was told that I was the best of our centre-backs on the ball. It was cool to be told, but I could also see it on the training ground.”
Big claim
It is nice to hear that the U21 international feels so positively about his manager in East London.
But considering the Scot went out and spent £30million on Kurt Zouma in the summer and didn’t seem to be ready to trust Alves last year, perhaps the feeling was not as mutual as he thinks.
He only made three League One appearances during his time in the North East as well so it certainly made sense from the player’s point of view to make the permanent move.
The way things have gone with injuries this season it would have seemed to be the perfect time for Alves to step into the first team line up.
Angelo Ogbonna has been ruled out for the rest of the season and Zouma missed extended time during the winter.
Yet despite this, and no incoming transfers during January, the club were happy to sanction his exit.
Regular football and the chance to develop at the third-placed side in the Danish top flight looks to be the best step currently.
In other West Ham news, there was a heated clash on talkSPORT over Mark Noble.