West Ham United: Simon Stone makes ‘strange’ admission after what David Moyes did v Freiburg
Simon Stone has praised David Moyes for playing a strong starting lineup in the West Ham victory over Freiburg on Thursday (5 October).
Writing on the BBC Sport website on Friday (6 October), the journalist said the Hammers boss “deserves credit” for naming a strong enough team to record a 2-1 win over the Bundesliga side in the Europa League clash.
He added that it “always seems strange” when manager choose not to select their strongest lineup having qualified to play in Europe.
Taking it seriously
It’s pretty clear that Moyes is once again taking West Ham’s European campaign seriously on the back of the last two successful experiences.
The Hammers reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in the 2021/22 season before lifting the Europa Conference League following the dramatic late victory over Fiorentina in June.
The Scot has seen what European football means to everyone associated with the club and the players have worked so hard to qualify for a third season in a row, so why wouldn’t he take it seriously?
With the international break coming up after the game against Newcastle United on Sunday (8 October), it also means a number of the players will be able to have a breather for a couple of weeks anyway, so an extra game won’t have done them too much harm.
Moyes will certainly continue to name strong squads in the competition this season, where we will once again be hoping to be competing in the latter stages and in with a chance of lifting another trophy.
In other West Ham news, the club have no intention of handing one senior player a new contract.