When David Moyes was announced as the new manager of West Ham United, it was met with disdain from supporters and pundits. The fans were naturally uninspired by the appointment of a coach that had been relegated in his last job with Sunderland.
Key figures within the media presumed that he would be unable to motivate his players on the training ground and that he was a little fortunate to have been given such an opportunity. This only seemed to have been confirmed when they lost 4-0 at his old club Everton in his second game.
However, they have now managed three consecutive clean sheets and won two matches. The recent positive results against Chelsea, Arsenal and Stoke City may have been due to the new boss bounce or it may have been a result of Moyes readjusting his approach.
The Scotsman has employed Alan Irvine and Stuart Pearce as his assistant managers, which provides an interesting contrast in styles. Pearce is a former West Ham player and is known for his no nonsense methods, whilst Irvine worked with Moyes at Preston North End and Everton and is known for his meticulous application.
“He is a very good coach, one of the best I worked under,” former Preston striker Karl Hawley explains to The Sportsman about Irvine. “His attention to detail is second to none.
“He was a shock to us and no stone was left unturned. We did a lot of video work, at times in the morning we spent 45 minutes to an hour before training watching clips of the opposition.”
Former Republic of Ireland international Sean St Ledger also worked with Irvine at Deepdale. “I had a manager in Alan Irvine that taught me loads, he was unbelievable for me,” added St Ledger who was coached by Sven-Goran Eriksson, Gareth Southgate and Giovanni Trapattoni in his career.
All of the coaching staff have been able to unite the senior players, even though Moyes made a big decision in dropping Joe Hart from the line-up. The former Manchester City goalkeeper spent time with Pearce at the Etihad and within the England set-up, whilst the former left-back had Mark Noble as captain for his U21 side.
Javier Hernandez worked with Moyes in his solitary year at Old Trafford and made more Premier League appearances than in the final campaign of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. Irvine was joined by an 18-year-old Andy Carroll at Preston and the on-loan forward demonstrated his potential.
“Andy Carroll was a bit wild. He was very young when he came to us, but you could see his quality, he was very raw and wasn’t really a trainer at times,” continues Hawley.
“It’s not that he didn’t do anything, but at times you didn’t notice him in training. Then, he would just pop-up, twist somebody inside and put it in the top corner.
“Which he was more than capable of doing. It didn’t surprise me when he did it, but it just came out of nowhere.”
Moyes has had numerous injuries to contend with since arriving at the London Stadium, but he hasn’t been afraid to change formations depending on the opposition. This was something he did at his recent former sides, but without as much success.
He hasn’t been able to call upon Hernandez or Carroll to the extent that he would have wanted, although he does have numerous attacking options when everyone is fit. Marko Arnautovic has shone brightest since he returned from injury, but there’s still plenty of work to do in order to maintain The Hammers’ focus.
