West Ham United named by Erik ten Hag in list of Premier League title competitors
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag insists West Ham are among “seven or eight” clubs able to challenge for the Premier League.
Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford this season as the man tasked with bringing the glory years back to Manchester United.
West Ham boss David Moyes was once handed the same responsibility with the Red Devils but fell short. However, he refound his feet in east London and Ten Hag now believes the Hammers are Premier League contenders under the Scotsman.
“There’s a change in circumstances when you compare [the Premier League] with five or 10 years ago. The competition is much tougher,” insisted Ten Hag, as quoted by Footballl365.
“Newcastle are coming, even West Ham, maybe not now in the table but they have huge investment.
“Spurs definitely and I don’t need to talk about [Manchester] City and Liverpool or Chelsea. You can quickly count seven or eight clubs that can compete in this league.
“It’s also about strategy not just money. But it’s clear that when you don’t have the right players and quality players you will not be successful and achieve the targets you set.”
Acknowledgement
Despite competing for the top six spots in the Premier League in recent years, West Ham are hardly ever acknowledged as a top side in England, with the ‘Big Six’ always dominating headlines.
But Ten Hag can clearly see the work going into the West Ham project to try and lift the Hammers into that elite group.
Moyes has done a superb job getting the Hammers into European competition and performing well in the continent will be key to West Ham’s long-term project.
This season, it’s not Europe that has been the issue. The Hammers boasted a perfect record in the group stage of the Europa Conference League but have slumped to 16th in the league.
Hopefully, it was just a blip by Moyes and the Hammers can climb their way back up the standings in the second half of the season.
The club are definitely a long way off from being Premier League title contenders, but it’s good to see the club getting appreciated as a top club.