David Moyes' three best games as West Ham manager

West Ham manager David Moyes may come under fire at times, but there have been some fantastic results under his reign.

It has been a time of turmoil for West Ham since the move to the London Stadium. David Moyes has had to be brought into the club twice in order to save a sinking ship and twice he has sailed that ship to safety.

Moyes has managed the East London side on the pitch for a total of 52 matches, winning fifteen, drawing fifteen and losing twenty-two. The Hammers have scored 68 goals in that time and conceded 79 times.

Despite the infamous quote “that’s what I do, I win”. Moyes has averaged 1.15 points per game and even though he has one of the worst win percentages of all West Ham managers. There have been some good moments during his time as manager.

"That's what I do, I win."

David Moyes held his first press conference since being named as West Ham's new manager. #bbcfootball #WHU pic.twitter.com/faEZQMsQkP
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 30, 2019

Here are his best three games as West Ham manager.

1. West Ham 1-0 Chelsea (12/09/17)

The Hammers had just relieved Slaven Bilic from his position as boss and were scrapping towards the bottom end of the Premier League table. Marko Arnautovic, West Ham’s record signing, was struggling to find any form and was looking likely to be an expensive mistake.

David Moyes was brought into to replace Bilic and save the clubs season. After a slow start of two loses and one draw Moyes finally found a solution that would make form the Hammers attack for the next year and a half.

Arnautovic was traditionally a winger but for the Chelsea match, Moyes deployed him as a striker to devastating effect. It only took six minutes for his plan to work as Arnautovic combined with Manuel Lanzini on the edge of the blues box. The Austrian received the ball back and shifted it on to his left foot before firing it to the bottom corner.

West Ham went on to win the game 1-0 and the vital three points did the club’s survival bid a world of good. Another bonus for Moyes was getting his first clean sheet at the club. After that game, Arnautovic for a time was one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League until he left the club in 2019. This transformation of the player was down to Moyes, the result of which was built upon by the following manager Manuel Pellegrini.

2. West Ham 3-1 Southampton (29/02/20)

Moyes returned for a second stint in charge of West Ham after Pellegrini was brought in to replace him. The Chilean did well in his first season but failed in his second as was sacked before 2020. The Scot won his first game in charge 4-0 against Bournemouth but went on a seven-game run without on a win in the Premier League. This run saw the Hammers fall right into the relegation battle and many people started to doubt Moyes’ ability to keep the club up.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

After a good performance against Liverpool that sadly ended in defeat a result was needed to build on the positive performance. That result was exactly what Moyes got against Southampton side that was in decent form going into the match.

The match got off to the perfect start as Jarrod Bowen scored his maiden goal for the club in his first match at the London Stadium. Despite the Saints equalising, West Ham was simply to good that day. Sebastien Haller has one of his best games in a Claret and Blue shirt as he was playing in a striker partnership with Michial Antonio.

Moyes found a way of getting the best out of the club’s record signing once again. Haller was rewarded with a goal showing his ability to fight for the club after challenging Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy for a loose ball and coming out on top.

The match also saw Michail Antonio return to the score sheet. Antonio slotted home after being put through by Spaniard Pablo Fornals, who had already assisted Bowen’s goal earlier in the game.

The 3-1 result against Southampton showed that there was still some fight form the West Ham corner. The Hammers had finally started to get their rewards for the efforts they had been putting in the previous matches.

3. West Ham 3-2 Chelsea (01/07/20)

The best moment of Moyes time as West Ham manager has to the recent victory over Chelsea. After a season disrupted by a worldwide pandemic and two losses after football restarted relegation was looking very realistic. Rival teams had started to put the pressure on the Hammers and they desperately needed a result.

Chelsea was the opposition and the match started in the worse possible way. January signing Tomas Soucek had a goal ruled out by VAR which was then followed by Chelsea penalty goal scored by Willian. The Hammers fought back as Soucek finally got his goal, crashing a header into the goal from a Bowen corner.

West Ham didn’t rest on their laurels and pushed on the second half. Antonio scored the Hammers next goal to put them into the lead, the goal followed some neat passing in the attacking third. The ball worked its way out to Bowen who fired a low cross to Antonio, his second assist of the match.

Chelsea started to besiege Fabianski’s goal and the polish keeper was only beaten by a brilliant freekick from Willian. As the match was set at 2-2, Moyes made an attacking change rather than settle for a point, Andriy Yarmolenko came on to the pitch to make a difference.

What a difference the Ukrainian made, the Hammers finally made a counter-attack stick when Antonio played Yarmolenko through on goal. As the 30-year-old forward charged towards goal, he shifted the ball onto his favourite left foot passed the helpless Antonio Rudiger and hit a lethal shot to fire West Ham to a massive three points.

Next. West Ham must try and sign Rico Henry. dark

Moyes may not be every West Ham fans cup of tea but he has delivered on what was required of him. The Scot has even provided West Ham fans with some memorable moments that he deserves to be remembered for.

David Moyes’ three best games as West Ham manager

By Henry Tomlinson | Aug 2, 2020