David Moyes must hang head in shame – Three things learned from West Ham United v Aston Villa
West Ham United suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday (22 October).
Unai Emery’s men ran out easy 4-1 winners in the clash at Villa Park, leaving them fifth in the table. The Hammers meanwhile dropped to ninth following the hugely damaging loss, which may prove difficult to bounce back from.
Here’s what West Ham Zone learned from the superb win for Villa, who picked up three points thanks to goals from Douglas Luiz (two), Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey, with Jarrod Bowen scoring for the Hammers.
Moyes must hang head in shame
David Moyes has made a lot of superb decisions in the West Ham dugout in recent years, with his tactics spot on more often than not. But the manager got it wrong at Villa Park as Emery produced a masterclass in the opposing dugout.
The home side were in electric form, but the Scot should have known that many of his key men, such as Edson Alvarez and Nayef Aguerd, would be tired following their exploits in the recent international break.
The duo featured heavily for Mexico and Morocco respectively, and could have certainly done with a day off, or at least a spot on the bench from the start, with Moyes failing to fully utilise his squad.
Bowen stars on the road again
Bowen continued his stunning run of form in claret and blue with yet another goal, and yet another goal away from home. The winger has now netted in his last five Premier League matches on the road.
He joins elite company following his goal, with Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the only other players to have scored in each of the first five away matches of a Premier League season, as per Squawka.
Getting the England international to commit his long-term future to the club not so long ago was a fantastic decision from the powers that be at the London Stadium, who deserve huge credit for convincing Bowen to stick around.
Kudus must start v Olympiacos
Summer signing Mohammed Kudus was once again forced to watch on from the bench at the start despite his good run of form. He was introduced by his manager in the 67th minute, coming on for the struggling Tomas Soucek, who didn’t win either of his two duels [Sofascore].
His replacement certainly did enough to convince Moyes to start him against Olympiacos on Thursday (26 October), with Kudus completing all six of his passes (100%), as well as making one tackle and having one shot on target [Sofascore].
In other West Ham news, one Hammers-linked player is weighing up offers, with a European giant “leading the charge” for his signature.