West Ham finally let go of Slaven Bilic earlier in the week and swiftly replaced the Croat with David Moyes, a former Manchester United manager. The sacking of Bilic and the hiring of Moyes has been handled very well by the club hierarchy as they took their time to make both decisions. With the appointment of David Moyes, fans of the club will be expecting an upward turn in the fortunes of the team and rightly so. I will be detailing below some of the things they should expect from David Moyes.
Experience
David Moyes has been in charge of three Premier league clubs in the past decade and has achieved some level of success in the competition, so he should take to this new job like duck to water. One of the first things he will do is give the Hammers some serious organization and that would be very effective in his plan to make this new chapter of his career a success. This is a great match-up as Moyes will want to build a team again just like he did at Everton and given enough time and the right backing, he certainly should be able to just that. He has over a decade of experience managing in England’s top flight and he will bring all that to the capital as he sets his sight on taking the Hammers way above their current level.
Point to prove
Moyes inherits a team languishing in 18th place after two wins from their first 11 Premier League games and he has also struggled, as a coach, since leaving Everton for Manchester United in 2013. A lot of people believe that his reputation is in tatters for what happened at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland but the major thing I would criticize him for is the choice of jobs he has taken since leaving Everton. United was a poisoned chalice, it was always going to be a struggle coming in after Sir Alex Ferguson; Real Sociedad was volatile and totally away from his comfort zone, while at Sunderland he effectively joined a doomed team without any money to spend and how was he going to succeed in those circumstances? Taking up the West Ham job will give him just the right platform and scenario he needs to perform and remind everyone about his shrewd managerial prowess which was greatly admired back then that made Manchester United come for him.
Measured Expectations
Before his misadventure in Manchester, Moyes was regarded as one of the best managers in the Premier League because of the job he had done at Everton, a club working on limited resources that often performed better than it should have, marshaled by a manager who got more out of his players than they could have expected. This seems to be his ideal working situation and he will be getting a similar situation at West Ham, so he should be quite comfortable. This West Ham side currently performs as though it is going through motions, lacking direction and leadership. This is ideal for Moyes as he is known for his work on organization, on fitness, on unity of the squad, which is exactly what West Ham need.
Discipline
David Moyes has a reputation for being a very disciplined coach and at West Ham, this trait will come in handy as the Scotsman will demand a lot of discipline from this crop of players, who enjoyed some sort of laxity under the previous manager, on and off the pitch. The Croat gave players license to play and that obviously hasn’t worked so it’s time for a change. The fans have to accept that and a bit of stability, grit and determination, and less fantasy football is what the Hammers need right now and Moyes is the ideal man to provide it.
