Hi Lads.....60 year Hammer here...
Just wanted to pass on a few points on
David Moyes.....no particular order but genuine feeling nonetheless.
Two January signings changed everything for his tenure at West Ham, Bowen and Soucek, they both arrived and really we never looked back. Without them I'm not sure where we would have gone. He built the team on these two. And with Declan Rice arriving into the team we had very solid foundations.
Antonio was key to everything we did. Without him we could never have played some fantastic "break" football...some of the best football I've seen at West Ham......it wasn't the beautiful build up play but just as exciting, if not more. ..We broke with such speed and precision.....not long ball, but with a minimal number of passes from back to front. Antonio ran the channels and Bowen finished the moves...mostly. In this period it was fantastic.....but possession was very low in most matches.....I didn't care. It was great to watch.
The downfall in his time at West Ham arrived when the breakaway football began to falter. Basically, we gave up ALL possession but didn't counter attack quite so well. So eventually we just got pinned back game after game, just defending our goal. This eventually became untenable........and last season we conceded an enormous amount of goals.....the most in our PL history I believe. .....Just to counter that, we still scored 60 goals last season......and finished ninth but we took some enormous beatings in the last 6 months of his tenure. And the defence, the hallmark of a
Moyes team was a pathetic unit.
I never tell other fans of teams to "be careful what you wish for"........fans generally know their club. Outsiders and media types do not. We chose badly in our next manager choice......nobody much would have swapped Moyes for Lopetegui........to let Moyes depart, on good terms, was correct.....our choice was something no-one wanted. Hopefully now we have someone decent......so I've no problem with who Everton want..or wish for as manager....you know your club.
To summarise......I and most of (we) love and respect what Moyes did. And some of the football at times was fantastic to watch.......one moment we are on the edge of our own box.....and 4 direct and clinical passes later we'd score. ...You now that buzz of breakaway goals....
So, I look on with great respect for how he goes when back home at Everton. He did wonders for us....we had some very quick fast players. That worked for us. It was time for him to go in the end.......all managers have a shelf life. But normally only real fans can recognise it......journalists do not.
I still think he can rejuvenate another team. Given time. And clever new signings will be important.....I wish you all the best. David Moyes has a place in our hearts. And would love to see him build the foundations for a better Everton........sorry if it's a bit long......hope you haven't dropped off to sleep.
Cheers lads, Up the Toffees.
