David Moyes: Why I refuse to discuss my future until West Ham are safe from relegation

Double trouble: Mark Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini operate well as a pairing
West Ham United via Getty Images
David Moyes2 March 2018

The defeat by Liverpool was a disappointment but it didn’t take long to put the game behind us.

The spirit here is still the best it has been since we came in and we’re looking forward to Swansea tomorrow. It’s being billed as a ‘must-win’ game for both teams but every game since I’ve been at the club has been looked at in a similar way.

We do need to be hard to beat. We’ve conceded too many goals in the past two away games and we have to make sure we tighten up that area of our game and maybe get back to being a bit ‘ugly’.

I always thought that, by the end of this month, we would have a really good idea of where we will be. We only play three times in March but I still feel that way.

I’ve been asked about my position frequently in the past few weeks and my answer is still the same. I want to get the club safe first and foremost — and then take it from there.

That doesn’t mean I’m not making plans for next season. Whatever my future, I am employed by the club until the end of the season and my job here is to think ahead and try to improve things.

I’ve already outlined the pre-season programme and I’m due to go abroad and check out a few training camps during the international break this month. We also plan to advertise for a head of recruitment going forward.

Am I preparing for next season? Am I talking with the owners about improvements? Yes, I am. Hopefully, the things we are suggesting make for good practice and whether it is me or someone else, I hope they are the right ideas to take this club forward.

I would say again, I am really enjoying my job here and I would have no problems staying but I just think, for the sake of me and the club, we don’t need to say or do anything just now.

I do believe that, in the long term, things will be much better but I came to the club with the single-minded attitude of ‘I’m here to do the job until the end of the season, I’m here to keep the team up’. I wanted all the supporters to buy into that and be behind the team.

In Pictures | Liverpool vs West Ham | 24/02/2018

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We made one or two changes for the match against Liverpool, including leaving out ‘Chicharito’, who has been scoring for us in recent matches. The reason for that was that I didn’t think we could go there with two out-and-out strikers.

I looked at their formation and thought that if we did play two up front, we would be outnumbered in other areas, so we chose to go with a more compact midfield.

I thought for 45 minutes we did quite well. Yes, we went in at half-time 1-0 down but we had created a chance or two. Ultimately, though, they were too powerful for us.

Their front three can be very dangerous. Manchester City’s front players are terrific in a different way — they play much wider — but we did find Liverpool very difficult in that second half.

I wasn’t happy with the goals we conceded and I think we could have done better on the break, when we tried to be more expansive. You can sit in against Liverpool for long periods and, while we wanted to do that, we were looking to cause them problems as well.

Comeback: Manuel Lanzini
Getty Images

We thought carefully about whether to bring Manuel Lanzini back for the game and we decided to go with him because he can keep possession well when we need it.

It was a hard game for him as it turned out but it’s good to have him back. I know he enjoyed his partnership with Marko Arnautovic before he was injured and that’s something we will look at resuming, but ‘Chicharito’ is scoring goals at the moment also.

We have a few knocks and niggles from last weekend but none too bad, hopefully.

‘Pat’ Evra has a nasty gash on his shin but we hope he’ll be okay, he’s been training this week with some padding on the shin to protect it.

VAR takes far too long

VAR was again in the spotlight during Tottenham’s FA Cup replay with Rochdale and certainly there are teething problems at the moment.

Goal-line technology has been a really good innovation and video has also been used retrospectively in dealing with diving.

At the moment, though, VAR is just taking too long. In rugby, which is a more stop-start game, if you like, that’s not so much of a problem but you don’t want to unnecessarily stop the flow in football.

VAR will help the game if it helps clarify obvious mistakes but it must only be used within those parameters. These days, the pundits often talk about referees’ decisions more than the football and if the technology can redress the balance a little, then that will be good.

Scrum and see us, Eddie

West Ham fan: Eddie Jones
Getty Images

So Eddie Jones is a West Ham fan! I didn’t know that until last week and I was sorry I couldn’t take up his invitation to go and watch his England rugby team train before their match against Scotland last weekend.

Perhaps it’s just as well because, as a Scot, maybe I would have taken the blame for the result!

Eddie (right) is due to come to us soon and it will be good to meet up with him.

He is an outstanding sports coach and to share ideas from top people from other sports — and even business — can only be hugely beneficial.

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