One player in particular has received some truly baffling treatment from West Ham United manager David Moyes.
David Moyes has worked wonders since returning to the London Stadium to take over as West Ham manager for the second time in December 2019.
Moyes has established the Hammers as a top 10 Premier League side and guided us to our first major trophy since 1980. However, there are still question marks hanging over his head regarding the style of football that he implements.
Another blot against the Scot’s copybook is his poor man management – especially of those who are on the fringes of the first-team.
It’s a problem that has plagued Moyes throughout his entire career in management. He is notorious for preferring a small group, so he doesn’t have to deal with managing the wants, needs and demands of large numbers of players – he admitted as much himself back in 2020.
Over the past year, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals were completely ostracised, hardly played and then when they were given a chance they both looked terribly rusty. It was a vicious cycle that ended with the Algerian and the Spaniard being moved on in January.
They most likely felt that they had to leave the London Stadium in order to save their respective careers, and now one other West Ham player will probably be thinking exactly the same thing…
West Ham player’s uncertain future after baffling David Moyes treatment
It was just eight days ago when Danny Ings saved the Hammers what could end up being a vital point with a late equaliser against Burnley at the London Stadium.
Ings, 31, has experienced a really tough time at West Ham since joining us from Aston Villa for £15 million in January 2023.
The former Villa man has managed to score just four goals in 46 appearances for the Hammers so far (Transfermarkt).
However, it hasn’t just been his appalling record in front of goal that has been so concerning – it’s the way in which he is so painfully ill-suited to Moyes’s system as well.
Ings quite simply isn’t built to play the lone striker role under Moyes, where he is expected to chase down lost causes and run the channels.
He has always flourished when playing as part of a two-pronged centre-forward partnership – something that Moyes has never given him a chance to do at the London Stadium.
However, it seemed as though the former Villa, Southampton, Liverpool and Burnley man made a real breakthrough in his West Ham career when he scored a late equaliser against Burnley last weekend. On another day, he could have had a hat-trick as well.
Moyes spoke after the 2-2 draw with the Clarets and insisted that he’s desperate to give the 31-year-old more playing time.
However, I just think that was all merely lip service. Against Freiburg on Thursday, Moyes took Michail Antonio off after 78 minutes when we were 4-0 up and had the game won.
However, rather than bring on Ings and give him 15 minutes or so to show us what he’s got, he brought on right-back Ben Johnson! You really couldn’t make it up…but that isn’t all.
Yesterday, Moyes brought Antonio off again, this time after 66 minutes. Rather than bring Ings on though, he brought Johnson into the fold again. It was a terrible substitution that really tipped the scales in Villa’s favour.
I get that Ings couldn’t have been a like-for-like replacement for the Jamaica international, but Moyes could have utilised him as a number 10 just behind Jarrod Bowen or Mohammed Kudus.
Ings stuck between a rock and a hard place after Moyes treatment
Let’s not forget what happened in January, when he put in arguably his best performance in a Hammers shirt during our 2-2 draw away at Sheffield United. After that display, Moyes has given him just 35 minutes of action (Soccerbase) – utterly disgraceful if you ask me.
The 31-year-old earns around £125k-a-week at the London Stadium (Spotrac) – he’s our third highest paid player behind Lucas Paqueta and Kalvin Phillips.
I’m sure he’s very comfortable picking up that salary, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel like he must be unhappy with the way he’s being treated by Moyes. The Scot has had ample opportunities to give him more minutes and game-time this season – especially after his fine performances against Sheffield United and Burnley.
The baffling treatment that Danny Ings has received from David Moyes over the past two months surely means that the striker has to look for a move away from the London Stadium in the summer. He never should have been signed in the first place, and now he’s just wasting his career with us I think.
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