Five managers West Ham should consider to replace David Moyes

There is no denying that David Moyes is on borrowed time at West Ham United.

Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace followed by a loss to Blackburn in the Carabao Cup were just extra nails in West Ham’s coffin and many supporters have called for the Scot to be shown the door.

Many supporters, pundits and media personnel have their own ideas on who could potentially replace Moyes. Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino have been cited as two big-name managers that should be included on the shortlist, and Sean Dyche’s name has also been mentioned. Dyche has further admitted that he wants to return to the sidelines soon.

Green Street Hammers writer James has assessed five managers who would be good replacements if David Moyes leaves. These five managers have taken different routes to becoming coaches, but they caught the attention of other clubs due to their successes.

MICHAEL BEALE

Background

Michael Beale is currently the manager of Queen’s Park Rangers, a role he has held since June 2022. Although he has been at the West London club for less than five months, he is already being linked with Premier League jobs.

A former Charlton Athletic academy player, Beale hung up his boots at the age of 21 and later opened a futsal club in South London. One year later, Chelsea offered him a part-time community role which focused on working with children. This ignited Beale’s passion for coaching and let to him becoming a full-time coach in 2003.

Beale wanted to grow and promote youngsters to Chelsea’s first team. He was fortunate to work for Chelsea under the guidance of world-class managers such as Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.  He left Chelsea in 2017 to work as a coach in Brazil for a short time and joined Liverpool later that year.

He formed a friendship with former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who was coaching Liverpool’s U18 and U19 teams at the time, and the pair worked together at Rangers and Aston Villa. Beale was appointed QPR manager in 2022.

Management Style

Beale is an all-involved manager who has tweaked QPR’s tactics on and off the ball. His biggest focus is to promote players that can switch between roles without hesitation, allowing for stronger formations on and off the ball. It is mainly applied off the ball, as Beale likes his midfield to drop deeper in order to win the ball back.

Beale has put a main focus on strengthening the midfield. He admitted that he was excited to work with Chris Willock and Ilias Chair, and both players have become the core of the team’s transitional play.

MARCELO GALLARDO

Background

Argentine Marcelo Gallardo is considered one of River Plate’s greatest ever players and one of the club’s most successful managers. He became accustomed to winning trophies throughout his 18-year playing career, and his understanding of the game has allowed him to turn his boyhood club into one of South America’s fiercest opponents.

Gallardo was born and raised in Buenos Aires. He joined River Plate at the age of 12 and made his professional debut in 1993. He played as an attacking midfielder who combined skill, playmaking and strong passing. He spent six years at the club before he joined French side Monaco in 1999. Gallardo made a good first impression in Europe, winning French Division 1 Player of the Year in his debut season.

River re-signed Gallardo in 2004 and appointed him club captain. Although he had high hopes of being successful, off-field financial problems made him want to pursue other opportunities. He had brief spells at Paris Saint-Germain, DC United, River Plate for a third time, and finished his playing career at Nacional de Montevideo. Gallardo won eight league titles in three countries, including six Argentine Primera División titles.

After he retired in 2011, he was immediately appointed Nacional’s head coach. He won the Uruguayan Primera División in his first and only full season in charge. He was unveiled as the new head coach of River Plate in 2014, and despite struggling in the league for his first two seasons, he slowly stabilized the team. They won the 2015 Copa Libertadores and the Copa Argentina in the 2015/16 season, winning the latter again in 2016/17. He also won three Recopa Sudamericanas.

The club moulded into one of South America’s top teams; victory in the 2018 Copa Libertadores Final gave Gallardo the international recognition he deserved. Uruguayan newspaper El País named him the best coach in the Americas in 2019. The 2021 season saw La Banda win its first league title in seven years. He decided to stay for one more season and will leave in December.

Management Style

Gallardo’s teams tend to be tactically unpredictable. He often varies between 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations, mainly applying the 4-4-2 in his first season at River Plate. He asks that his winger and forwards go to wider places once River wins back possession of the ball, as he likes his side to play counter-attacking football. The extra space allows his wingers to break away, while his strikers are asked to run towards the box.

Gallardo wants all areas of the defence to be covered. He has adapted a system in which the defensive players protect the centre of the pitch, which can allow for better movement once the ball has been retrieved. Moreover, the team presses higher up the field when it is out of possession; this causes added pressure on the opposition and narrows any chances for them to move around.