The curious case of David Moyes and the West Ham fanbase
By Ryan Nassau
In this 4 part column, I will be looking at David Moyes’ second spell in charge of the Hammers with the Scot bringing European football back to West Ham on a regular basis whilst also helping to develop young English stars.
When Moyes returned to the London Stadium in late December 2019, West Ham fans would have snapped your hands off for two top 7 finishes, three seasons of European football, and a first trophy in 43 years.
However, despite the success Moyes has brought to West Ham, sections of the club’s fanbase would still prefer to see another manager take the reins at the London Stadium due to a perceived lack of entertainment owing to the Scot’s counter-attacking style of play.
Should West Ham move on from David Moyes?
Moyes’ return to the Hammers hot seat started superbly with a fantastic 4-0 win over fellow strugglers Bournemouth (who were eventually relegated) with the Scot leading the Hammers to safety on 39 points, 5 points clear of danger. Moyes ended the COVID-interrupted campaign with 5 wins, 5 draws, and 9 defeats, which for a side devoid of confidence under Manuel Pellegrini, is a very decent return.
West Ham’s 20/21 season behind closed doors was scarcely believable with the side performing superbly to finish 6th, 2 points away from a place in the UEFA Champions League group stages. The signings of Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek (loan turned into a permanent deal after avoiding relegation) were inspired.
Additionally, the loan arrival of Jesse Lingard bore fruit as the Manchester United man returned with impressive 14-goal involvements (9 goals and 5 assists) whilst Declan Rice continued to blossom in Claret and Blue.
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With fans returning to stadiums across the country towards the end of the season, the large majority of supporters were over the moon with the club’s season, with many hailing Moyes’ counter-attacking style as the main reason behind West Ham’s successful season. In part 2, we will look back at West Ham’s 21/22 season, where the club had another strong Premier League campaign and a memorable Europa League campaign.