Jamie O’Hara and Dean Saunders clash live on talkSPORT over David Moyes sack verdict at West Ham United
Jamie O’Hara and Dean Saunders have clashed live on air while discussing David Moyes’ future at West Ham United as speculation continued to surround his position.
The Hammers currently sit seventh in the Premier League and have booked their place in the Europa League beyond Christmas, but conversations have yet to begin between Moyes and the Irons bosses to extend his stay at the London Stadium.
While O’Hara has agreed that he can understand some supporters’ frustrations with the “pragmatic” approach of Moyes, Saunders has urged fans to be careful what they wish for and backed the Scotsman to remain in charge of the Irons.
Speaking on talkSPORT (28 December, 6:24) he said: “Be careful what you wish for, I think he’s doing a great job for West Ham, where are West Ham in the table, seventh eighth? They’ve won a cup and they’ve got stability at the club.
“You sack him and you end up with somebody else coming in, turning the club upside down and you’re in the relegation zone.”
O’Hara hit back saying: “I think the issue they’ve got with David Moyes is yes they’re getting results and they respect what David Moyes has done, they really do, but some of the football is very pragmatic.
“I think with some of the players they’ve now signed, they’ve actually now got a really good team and I think they’re probably worried about losing their best players with some of the football that they’re playing and maybe they could go right let’s try something new.”
Try something new
There is always an element of risk in changing a manager, especially when you have somebody in charge who is as settled as Moyes is at West Ham, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth taking.
Moyes has brought some stability to the London Stadium and nobody is attempting to take his past success away from him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he should remain in charge for the foreseeable future.
He did excellently to win the Europa Conference League last season and three consecutive seasons of European football is an incredible achievement, but West Ham are a much better team than they were when he took over and a new manager may be required to take that next step.
Too often the football has been slow and pragmatic and with the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta at his disposal, the Scotsman should take the handbrake off more often and let that attacking talent express themselves.
Hopefully, some sort of clarity will emerge on Moyes’ future sooner rather than later.
In other West Ham news, sources close to the Hammers have claimed Michail Antonio is fit to play despite Moyes’ latest update