David Moyes has issued a rallying cry to West Ham fans ahead of their crucial clash with Newcastle United.
To say David Moyes has changed West Ham United would be a massive understatement. He has taken the East London side from almost certain relegation to three consecutive seasons of European football and a European trophy. Yet again, the Hammers are in with a real chance of securing another season of European away days, but Moyes knows that they need to walk away from St James’ Park with a good result.
“I think it’s really important” he stated ahead of West Ham’s trip to Newcastle. “I think we have nine to play, I think every game’s going to be vitally important to pick us as many points as we possibly can. There are a few teams chasing in and around the European spots and we’re one of them.”
“We’ve had more games than Newcastle, so I can only comment on ourselves. Has it impacted us? Yeah, it has. I’m sure in some ways it’s impacted Newcastle as well.”
“It would be unbelievable for us to get four years in a row. I think the level of competition in the Premier League is so difficult every year, and trying to be in and around the top teams.”
“We see the quality of the top two three four teams are so good, teams regularly getting to the latter stages of the Champions League, getting to finals and winning them, so I think being in and around them and being just below that is good. We’d like to challenge them but at the moment we’ve got to be happy with where we are.”
If his side are to achieve their goals, they will need every single player to be on top of their game between now and the end of the campaign. Fortunately, it seems like everyone is hitting form at the right time, with a few in particular delighting the gaffer.
“I think having Michail Antonio back has given us another dimension,” he confirmed. “It’s one that we’ve had in the past but you’ve got to remember that he’s been out since November.”
“It’s his goals we need him to add. I think to be a team at the top of the Premier League, you need to have regulars goalscorers and goals getting scored. Jarrod Bowen has got a great number of goals this year and has done brilliantly well recently, so we need Mick to get up amongst those numbers and score goals regularly for us.”
“First of all, I have to say we are talking about a fantastic boy and a great lad in Vladimír Coufal, when you consider what we paid to bring him in with the way he plays and his loyalty.”
“He continually works hard, he pushes himself to try and improve himself and if he can get us another four or five [assists] before the end of the season it would be fabulous. He’s been a really good full-back and modern-day full-backs are being asked to do different jobs. Some are playing in midfield, some are building play, some are putting crosses in and Vladi is putting crosses in for us and that’s the type he is.”
While the players are obviously vital, what really could be make or break is the support of the fans. Sections of the fan base have been left fragmented by the Moyes debate, but the veteran manager has urged everyone to get behind the team for the final run of games.
“At West Ham, we’ve had brilliant seasons and we need the fans to really stick with us through what is a really important time of the season. Let’s hope they’re all behind us in the coming games at London Stadium and away from home.”
