David Moyes has commented on the way Morocco play and it will leave many West Ham fans feeling completely bemused.
Morocco have been one of the success stories of the Qatar World Cup so far and West Ham fans have been taking a particular interest in their progress.
Because Hammers supporters have been following the progress of £30m summer signing Nayef Aguerd.
Having been ruled out for the first three months of his time at West Ham through injury, Aguerd has been starring for the Atlas Lions on their way to the quarter-finals.
Moyes has previously revealed he chased Aguerd for two years before finally getting his man.
And now everyone is seeing why he was so coveted by West Ham with the left-footed centre-back putting in a string of brilliant displays – conceding just one goal so far.
Even that was a very unfortunate own goal after a pot shot from range in the win over Canada.
Moyes has been analysing the World Cup matches and writing about tactics in his column for The Times.
That has been met with criticism from some West Ham supporters who feel he needs to get his own house in order first given the club’s woeful performances and results charting all the way back to November last year.
It was around that time West Ham’s domestic form fell off a cliff. And in truth it has never recovered. The Hammers have won just 13 of their last 42 Premier League matches and supporters have been highly critical of Moyes’ negative, defensive approach.
West Ham too often hand the initiative to their opponents and surrender the lion’s share of possession, particularly during the first halves of matches.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was also critical of Moyes recently. He said watching West Ham under the Scot has become frustrating, suggesting his tactics are outdated and imploring the Hammers to have more of a go at teams from the off.
So Moyes’ comments on the way Morocco play will leave West Ham fans completely bemused.
Speaking in his column in The Times Moyes praised Morocco but highlights big drawbacks to their defensive, organised, non-possession style.
And it will leave West Ham fans wondering why he does not feel the same about his own team – who are set up in much the same way with the same fundamentals.
“They have the best defensive record in the tournament and base themselves on organisation, being well drilled and able to cope with not having as much of the ball as the opposition,” Moyes said about Morocco in The Times in comments which could just as easily be describing his West Ham team.
“The drawback with playing that way is that if you go behind you suddenly have to change — and Morocco haven’t been behind yet. The question with Spain was always whether they were strong enough up front to score goals whereas Portugal, with all their attacking talent, are a different proposition.”
Surely Moyes can see the irony in what he is saying here?
West Ham fans have been crying out for him to play more attacking football on the front foot from the start against teams.
Instead the Hammers have all too often sat off, fallen behind then had to chase the game in the second half, usually to no avail – hence their measly 14 points from 15 games and joint second league lowest 12 goals approaching the halfway stage of the season.
Let’s hope things change and we see a more positive approach when West Ham are back in action after the World Cup.
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