West Ham's previous manager David Moyes has established himself as a Hammers legend during his five seasons at the club. Moyes also guided West Ham to win their first major trophy in 43 years by lifting the UEFA Conference League 2022/23, however, his defensive approach wasn't much appreciated by a large section of the West Ham fans. This was the case towards the end of the last season, when the Hammers went on an eight-match winless run across all competitions after the start of the new year.
During that time, West Ham were linked with several top managers to replace Moyes after a number of underwhelming performances in recent weeks, but decided to keep Moyes at the managerial role instead. Although this seemed like a mistake made by the club around ten months ago, now it is turning out to be a great long-term decision from the Hammers.
David Moyes tipped to replace West Ham's preferred manager target
This is due to the fact that one of West Ham's preferred manager targets during the previous January transfer window is now highly likely to be replaced by David Moyes itself. Oliver Glasner was one of the heavy favourites to join West Ham in January, but Premier League rivals Crystal Palace moved forward to sign him. Palace were involved in a relegation battle when he arrived, but Glasner successfully managed to avoid Palace from getting relegated to the Championship.
On top of that, Glasner made Crystal Palace as one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League as they registered massive wins against Manchester United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, West Ham and Liverpool in the final fifteen league matches. Glasner helped Crystal Palace to make an incredible comeback to finish tenth in the league table, and a large section of the West Ham fans were left wondering why the Hammers didn't bring Glasner to the London Stadium.
However, that isn't the case this season, and Crystal Palace are currently eighteenth in the Premier League table with only three points after the first seven league fixtures. Speculations about Glasner's departure from Crystal Palace are increasing and CaughtOffside has suggested that former West Ham manager David Moyes is highly likely to replace him. Although Moyes is known for implementing his highly defensive tactics, the Conference League winning manager is a proven result-oriented manager, who brings the best out of his squad.
If West Ham would have replaced Moyes with Oliver Glasner last season, the Hammers may also have to think about bringing a new long-term manager after a few months as well. Hence, West Ham were absolutely right last season when they prioritized Moyes's experience over the impressive tactics of other available managers such as Oliver Glasner. Now, it remains to be seen whether Moyes becomes the new Crystal Palace manager in the upcoming months.