Can Moyes Turn Things Around at West Ham?

31/12/19 2774

West Ham United begin the new year in 17th place in the Premier League. They are just one point ahead of 18th place Aston Villa and the relegation zone. The Hammers do have a game in hand on the teams around them but that match is against Liverpool meaning it will be tough to pick anything up from the game.

A disappointing record of just 5 wins from 19 Premier League matches this season saw the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini. The 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Leicester City, who rested several of their regular first team players, was enough for the West Ham board to dismiss the former Manchester City boss.

With the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Niko Kovac, Max Allegri, Unai Emery, Marco Silva and Laurent Blanc currently out of work, were West Ham going to aim high in attempt to secure the services of a big name manager? That question was soon answered as the club announced the appointment of David Moyes.

This will be the second spell at West Ham for Moyes having previously lasted only six months and 31 games. When he left the job in May 2018, joint chairman David Sullivan said: "We feel that it is right to move in a different direction. We aim to appoint a high-calibre figure who will lead the club into an exciting future."

The high-calibre figure in question was Pellegrini and it turned out to be an expensive gamble which did not pay off. Nonetheless, the appointment of Moyes was met with much disappointment from many West Ham fans who feel the club is going backwards.

Since leaving Everton in 2013, Moyes was sacked after only 10 months at Manchester United, dismissed by Real Sociedad after just 12 months and was manager of Sunderland when they were cut adrift and relegated in 2017, winning only 6 league games. However, despite this poor record Moyes did manage to push West Ham out of the relegation zone and into the safety of 13th place come the end of the season.

Moyes won 8 of 27 Premier League matches which was enough to see West Ham move up the league table. That was the main goal of his previous appointment and surely the same applies this time around?

The players who were at the club during his previous spell will need to readjust back to the coaching philosophy of Moyes, whereas those who have joined since must quickly adapt to his ideas.

Moyes’ previous contract at the club was only a short term deal whereas this one is for 18 months. Moyes has even spoken about forcing the club to extend his deal due to the good job he feels he is about to do at West Ham. There is no doubt, given his previous tenure, Moyes has what it takes to move West Ham clear of the relegation zone but what happens after that will be very interesting to watch.