David Moyes is set to lead West Ham into action against his old club, Manchester United in Round 18 of the Premier League. The Scotsman did not make a name for himself at the Theater of Dreams in Sir Alex Ferguson’s “shoes”, and he does not enjoy much popularity in London either, with polarized views surrounding his tenure as the Hammers’ helmsman, especially after the recent League Cup fiasco against Liverpool. After keeping the club in the league and then being brutally axed in favour of Manuel Pellegrini in 2018, Moyes returned “home” in 2019, taking the reins when the team were 17th in the table, just a point above the relegation zone and kept the Hammers in Premier League. Again. On the penultimate day of 2023, he will celebrate four years in office. His current contract expires at the end of the season.Our date with the Red Devils has come. pic.twitter.com/omQFKMUGnP— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 23, 2023 During that time, for the first time in West Ham’s history, the team finished the campaign in the top seven for two consecutive seasons. At the same time, the team from East London is playing European football for the third season in a row, which has never happened before. In every campaign, including the current one, they have finished top of their group and progressed to the knockout stages. In June, Moyes was responsible for one of the most significant nights in West Ham’s history as the Hammers beat Fiorentina to win the Prague Conference League, their first major trophy since the 1980 FA Cup. However, even after that success, a good number of West Ham fans feel that Moyes’ time at the club should end in June 2024.Will this man ever stop with excuses?!There were multiple calls on social media for him to retire after Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat at Anfield in the League Cup quarter-finals.”We’re aware of what it looks like from the outside. Many of us are very grateful for three seasons in Europe, there’s no doubt about that. The trouble is that we’re in for a very short time time we went from a 34,000-capacity stadium to one where we regularly have 55,000 people, which could be increased to 66,000. Moyes has spent around 450 million pounds and a lot of frustration comes from the fact that he still relies on 12 to 13 players” one of the ringleaders from a more prominent group of supporters told BBC Radio 5.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Against Liverpool on Wednesday, in a team that made six changes from the one that beat Wolves in their previous Premier League game, West Ham had two shots, both in the second half. Nineteen-year-old forward Divine Mubama, star of the FA Youth Cup-winning team, remained on the bench throughout. The Premier League is a ruthless environment. Should West Ham beat Manchester United, they would move above their opponents and move into sixth place. At Anfield, Moyes bristled when asked if his decision to leave out so many players, including Lucas Paquette, James Ward-Prowse and Nayef Agerd, who was ill, led to such a high defeat.”Quite a cheap question. Do you know the only teams that have played more games than us over the last three years are Liverpool and Manchester City. We’ve had the fastest turnaround of any team in the Championship, just two days, we’ve played more games and we’ve got duel on Saturday at an earlier time”.Flawless Reds storm over West Ham to secure League Cup semifinalThe meeting in London will be a clash of neighbours at the table. The Hammers beat Wolverhampton 3-0 in the last round, while the Red Devils were lucky to take a point away from Anfield. Last year, the Hammers beat the Red Devils at 1:0 at home. United, on the other hand, redeemed themselves from their embarrassing exit from the Champions League and won a valuable point in the derby with Liverpool. It should be added that Erik ten Hag’s players were very lucky and practically did nothing in the match. The Red Devils must be without several key players. Dalot, Casemiro, Diallo, Maguire, Malacia, Martinez, Mount and Sancho are out for various reasons. The starts of Lindelof, Eriksen and Martial are uncertain.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 18Friday Aston Villa – Sheffield United 1-1 (0-0)/Zaniolo 90+7 – Archer 87/Saturday 15.30: (2.65) West Ham (3.40) Man.Utd. (2.80)18.00: (1.68) Fulham (3.70) Burnley (5.40)18.00: (1.85) Tottenham (3.80) Everton (4.50)18.00: (2.90) Nott.Forest (3.45) Bournemouth (2.55)18.00: (5.90) Luton (3.90) Newcastle (1.67)20.30: (2.45) Liverpool (3.50) Arsenal (3.00)Sunday 16.00: (4.00) Wolverhampton (3.60) Chelsea (2.00)***odds are subject to change
