David Moyes leaves West Ham fans absolutely baffled with his utterly bizarre Leicester comments as the pressure mounts.
If there was ever a sign that Moyes is perhaps feeling the strain at West Ham right now it came in his pre-match press conference ahead of the crucial match against Leicester.
West Ham welcome the in-form Foxes to the London Stadium this weekend for a rare Saturday afternoon 3pm kick off.
The match has taken on huge significance for West Ham of late.
Back-to-back home defeats to Crystal Palace and Blackburn in the Carabao Cup have piled the pressure on Moyes and his team ahead of the World Cup break.
Several reports claim Moyes’ future could hinge on this weekend’s crucial clash with Leicester. Suffer a heavy defeat and many feel the board may be forced into a dramatic U-turn.
Dark clouds have started to gather over Moyes’ head of late as West Ham struggle to live up to loftier expectations after two years of rapid progress.
The Scot’s cause is not being helped by the fact West Ham’s decline can be charted back a full 12 months. The Hammers have just 13 wins in their last 41 Premier League matches across this season and last since beating Liverpool last November.
Many supporters are starting to call for Moyes to be sacked.
But others feel the boss should be given time off the back of the marvellous job he has done since returning to east London in 2020 – particularly having brought in so many new players in the summer.
It is not just the results that fans are increasingly concerned about, though. The manager has also been criticised for his negative approach, team selection and tactics with West Ham having scored just 12 goals all season – the joint third worst in the top flight.
Just a matter of weeks ago Leicester were sat rock bottom of the league with a solitary point.
But it says everything about West Ham’s awful form that Brendan Rodgers’ side have not only caught the Hammers up but leapfrogged them in the table.
Leicester were being tipped for relegation after their woeful start, particularly having sold so many key players in the summer with barely any money available to Rodgers for reinforcements.
Despite that Leicester are playing an exciting, attacking brand of football West Ham fans would be envious of.
David Moyes leaves West Ham fans absolutely baffled with utterly bizarre Leicester comments as pressure mounts
While Leicester were tightening the purse strings on Rodgers, Moyes was backed with a whopping £170m to sign eight new players.
In reality, especially given the points gap between the two teams until very recently, West Ham should be competing much higher up the league.
But Moyes will leave West Ham fans absolutely baffled with utterly bizarre Leicester comments as the pressure mounts.
The Scot somehow rationalised that because 15th-placed West Ham are on the same points at Leicester (14) – they must be doing something right.
“We’ve got the same points as them so we must have done something okay in the league,” Moyes said in his pre-Leicester presser.
“They are playing well so we’ll need to be our best…
“The Premier League is throwing up so many different anomalies and you’re seeing some shock results. It could be due to the World Cup, or fixtures. But we know we’re playing against a Leicester City side that are doing well.”
Until a few weeks ago Leicester were abysmal, conceding goals for fun and Rodgers was being tipped for the sack.
They barely spent any money in the summer window while West Ham forked out £155m net on some quality players.
So how Moyes can use them as a yardstick to make out the Hammers are doing okay in the league is laughable. Perhaps in years gone by when Leicester were challenging for the Champions League spots he’d have a point, but not this season.
It smacks of a man under pressure. And off the back of his comments mocking West Ham’s “expert” fans last weekend, he needs to tread very carefully indeed.
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