David Moyes needs home comforts, ‘really unfair’ assessment will not stave off West Ham sack decision
Of the 13 matches West Ham have played in all competitions this season, eight have been played away from home.
And the Hammers have certainly had a little travel sickness to contend with since returning from the international break, getting thumped 4-1 at Aston Villa in the Premier League then going down 2-1 at Olympiacos in the Europa League.
There will be familiar surroundings coming up, though, with West Ham playing four of their next five games at the London Stadium.
“It does feel like an advantage. If you look at our start to the season, I was moaning a little bit because we had a really unfair start,” Hammers boss David Moyes said prior to Sunday’s clash with Everton in quotes reported by Mirror Football (28 October, page 5).
“We had three away from home in the first four games, and even in the next batch of games, it kept us in the negative side regarding being away from home.
“Hopefully, it will help us now having four of the next five at home. We’ve been good enough at home – had some tough games and expect some more to come.”
The “really unfair” quote is one that stuck out like a sore thumb in that assessment. Fixture lists are, after all, a bit of a lottery. When managers talk of things evening out over the course of a season, the fixture list is one that will quite literally even itself out.
But regardless, West Ham have hit a bit of a wobble, taking only four points from a possible 15 in their past five league games, with the Olympiacos defeat adding a bit more pressure on Moyes.
It still feels a little bit too early to be talking of a change, Moyes has plenty of credit in the bank from the Europa Conference League triumph.
There are some who get itchy feet with Moyes, though, and he will want to quickly get some more wins on the board in the coming weeks. Hopefully some home comforts can help with that and keep any sack decision from the board at bay.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are readying a £34.8m bid for Juventus ace Manuel Locatelli.