Mistaken Moyes has got it all wrong
Hammers manager David Moyes has a habit of viewing things that are under his control with utter detachment.
The West Ham gaffer once famously bemoaned the club’s lack of a striker shortly after sanctioning the sale of Sebastien Haller. Moyes is also a man who complains about fatigue caused by European competition whilst using fewer substitutions than anyone else and declining the option of bulking up his squad.
Following last night’s 1-0 loss to Freiburg in the Europa League, Moyes was at it again. This time he seemed puzzled that West Ham’s passing was poor despite playing Tomas Soucek in midfield and James Ward-Prowse as a sort of defensive attacking midfielder.
Moyes told reporters, “We gave the ball away far too much and in Europe it’s more difficult to get it back. In the second half, we played much better and created some opportunities and found things, but the goal was a sickener, to be honest.”
Honestly, what does the bloke expect? I counted at least three occasions when Paqueta and Emerson linked well with good pass-and-move combinations, only to see Soucek pass the ball straight to the opposition.
I’m not suggesting that Soucek and Ward-Prowse don’t have their qualities, but passing the ball creatively isn’t among them. Soucek is in the team to head the ball, run around a lot, and hopefully pinch a goal. JWP is in the team for his set pieces. Neither have great vision, so I’m not entirely sure why Moyes was puzzled.
He picked a team to shut up shop and park the bus, and he should just own that fact. If he honestly wanted to control the ball and cared about possession, then I’d suggest he’d pick a different team entirely.
I just don’t think he can have it both ways. If Moyes selects a team to be workmanlike and defensive, then he can have little complaint if it’s not expressive and skilful.