Sky Sports pundit shares David Moyes sack verdict after what he saw at West Ham United
Sky Sports pundit and former West Ham defender Matthew Upson believes David Moyes’ job is on the line because it’s about more than results at the London Stadium.
Hammers fans have seemingly turned on the manager after the most recent 6-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, with suggestions that the board are now stalling on offering the veteran manager a new contract to take him beyond the summer.
But while the club sit eighth in the league and are in the knockout rounds of the Europa League, while being holders of the Europa Conference League, Upson told Sky Sports News (15 February) that the issues are “deeper than that” and stem from fans wanting to be entertained.
“He delivered a big trophy at the end of last season which they celebrated, they’re in a decent position in the league like you said,” he said.
“But I think it goes a little bit deeper than that, in how they watch West Ham. How they play, how they setup, how they want their team to play football, and I think that’s one conflicting thing that’s always been there since David Moyes has been manager.
“He’s brought so much stability to a club that isn’t easy to bring stability to, but what comes with that is maybe not a style of play that everyone wants or enjoys all the time, and then when the results don’t happen it gets so heavily magnified that the problem appears to be very big.
“It is a blip really in terms of the big scale of things. There is pressure, I think he has to look at it and obviously improve those performances. Be better in front of goal, but for me be hard to play against which his teams generally are. He’s a very good coach in that sense.”
West Ham fans are finally being heard
It’s interesting that every time a Hammers fan says something against Moyes, the mainstream media and pundits take it as an attack on the man rather than his ability.
But that isn’t the case. There is no doubt that Moyes has done a terrific job since rejoining the club, and he has taken the team to a level that fans would only have been able to dream about when he took over.
However there is also an argument that he has also taken the team as far as he can at this point, and it’s time for someone else to come in with fresh ideas and a fresh voice to keep the team progressing to the next level.
With players such as Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen there is no reason why this team can’t be performing even better and be more forward-thinking rather than playing for draws and hoping to nick a goal on the counter attack.
In other West Ham news, international forward wanted at London Stadium amid Saudi Arabia transfer interest.
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