David Moyes has a lot of work to do at West Ham this summer.
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The Hammers’ need for at least three top class signings this summer has been well-documented.
There are other orders of business that are in desperate need of attention at the London Stadium, however.
David Moyes must try to address these 5 pressing issues ahead of the new season…
Getting the best out of Siad Benrahma
Moyes signed the 25-year-old winger last summer from Brentford before making his move a permanent one in January for around £25 million (Sky Sports). Despite showing the odd glimpse of brilliance, the Algeria international struggled during his debut campaign in the Premier League.
Moyes’s job as a manager should be to help Benrahma achieve his potential in a West Ham shirt. That may well be by changing the way he speaks about Benny during press conferences. It could be by playing him more central.
Perhaps the 25-year-old just needs an arm around him. Whatever it is, this upcoming season will be crucial for the former Bees ace. And Moyes must provide the winger with the platform he needs to succeed.
Managing Michail Antonio correctly
Micky was our only striker after Sebastien Haller left for Ajax in January. Unsurprisingly, his hamstring gave way and he was forced to miss a substantial amount of games.
Obviously signing a new striker will help with this particular issue. But is there more that could be done? With dodgy hamstrings, often resting them doesn’t always solve the issue. Perhaps it will be a case of changing Antonio’s playing style. Playing the 31-year-old up top with another willing runner would enable him to do most of his work in and around the penalty box.
Getting the best out of talented youngsters
West Ham have so many talented young players at the London Stadium. We haven’t been great in extracting the best from them in recent years, however.
Moyes has to change all of that. Whether that means getting the correct loans for them or involving them more in first-team training and matches is up for debate.
Whatever happens, however, they cannot be allowed to rest on their laurels and just plod along in under-23 football.
Help heal rift between owners and fans
Now, this is a really tough one. Moyes is in a position where he can act as a middle man between the two warring factions, however.
More transparency, honesty and healthy interaction between owners and fans is required. Signing some top class players will help, of course it would. Perhaps if the owners came out and admitted that previous mistakes have caused the financial situation we currently find ourselves in, however, the fans would be more understanding.
Moyes obviously doesn’t have the power to make the owners do anything. He could try his best to make David Sullivan and David Gold understand how a healthy relationship with the fans involving more honesty can only be a good thing for the football club, however.
Rush Green
The Hammers’ training facilities really are very poor. All you need to do is look at the facilities of clubs in and around us in the league such as Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa for proof.
By all accounts, there have been some small improvements made, but they quite simply haven’t been good enough.
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Improving our training facilities would not only help attract better players to the London Stadium, but it would also prove to our current stars that we are a club that has real ambition to improve.
David Moyes could surely help facilitate this by driving home the importance of doing so to the club’s owners.
So, there is plenty of work to be done by Moysie this summer. Transfers will undoubtedly be a priority, but there are many other important matters that need attention. Make no mistake about that.
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