West Ham United manager David Moyes just got a first-hand look at exactly what he’s missing at the London Stadium.
David Moyes has done a lot of good things since returning to the London Stadium in December 2019, and after West Ham won the Europa Conference League last season Declan Rice suggested that the 60-year-old has to go down as one of our best managers of all-time.
After keeping us in the Premier League, the Scot guided the Hammers to sixth and seventh place finishes, before falling off domestically last season. However guiding us to our first major trophy in 43 years will always hold huge weight amongst the West Ham fans.
But in spite of all of that, there are still large sections of the Hammers fanbase who are unhappy with Moyes, and there is one particular blindspot that the Scot has – signings strikers.
He failed to get the best out of Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca, with both of those players having left for pastures new over the past two years.
After selling Scamacca, Moyes refused to bring in a proven centre-forward to replace the Italian, choosing instead to plod on with Michail Antonio as his number one striker, with only Danny Ings and the unproven Divin Mubama in reserve.
It was a baffling move from the Scot, and now he has been given a first-hand reminder of what a poor decision he made in the summer…
David Moyes West Ham mistake laid bare
The Hammers drew 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
It was a really poor result, with some shocking defending from Konstantinos Mavropanos contributing to us dropping two points.
However, when the Greek defender made the sloppy pass backwards, Odsonne Edouard still had a lot of work to do, but he finished with aplomb.
The 25-year-old is a proper out and out striker, and is someone who West Ham have been linked with signing in the January transfer window.
The goal against the Hammers was his seventh in 14 games for Palace this season (Transfermarkt). He has a similar physical profile to Michail Antonio, but he is far more clinical in front of goal.
Listen, I’m not saying that Edouard is the poster boy for centre-forwards, but he’s certainly a lot better than we’ve got at the London Stadium.
There was absolutely no reason to not sign a solid, proven goalscorer in the summer transfer window. West Ham manager David Moyes cannot continue to push the narrative that only certain forward players suit his archaic system.
Maybe it’s time that he changed things up. He saw first hand on Sunday what having a proper striker can do for you. Having a proven marksman in the team means that you don’t have to play well for the entire 90 minutes, and can rely on your striker to dig you out of a hole every now and again.
Surely Moyes has to address the Hammers’ centre-forward deficiencies in the January window, because we will not enjoy any kind of success this season without a top striker.
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