Stuart Pearce calls for more respect for 'underrated’ David Moyes after West Ham's Premier League revival

EXCLUSIVE
Pearce has been tasked with keeping Moyes updated during the Scot's spell at home.
AFP via Getty Images
Jack Rosser @JackRosser_16 October 2020

Stuart Pearce has become used to delivering good news at West Ham.

He was the man in the Hammers coaching team tasked with being on the phone to David Moyes while he was managing from his sofa after testing positive for coronavirus.

With Moyes working from home and his assistant Alan Irvine deputising on the touchline, West Ham marched to a 4-0 win over Wolves and then a 3-0 victory against Leicester to go into the international break on a high.

“The strange thing was he had a delay on his television of about 45 seconds," Pearce told Standard Sport. “So it's like giving somebody the best news in the world when they didn't see coming. So I'm ringing David saying: 'You're gonna like the next 30 seconds, we've scored!' And I was able to do that on seven occasions and listen to him jumping around his living room."

(The Hammers are back to winning ways. West Ham United FC via Getty Images)
West Ham United FC via Getty Ima

Pearce has had Moyes back alongside him in training this week and things will be back to normal in the dugout when West Ham visit Tottenham on Sunday looking to continue their run of eye-catching results.

Pearce worked with Moyes during his first spell at West Ham when the Scot kept the club in the Premier League before he was replaced by Manuel Pellegrini as the club targeted a more “high-calibre” appointment.

Having rescued the Hammers again last season, Moyes has now been given the chance to get his feet under the table at the London Stadium and start to build something. Judging by their last two results, he has the club moving in the right direction despite a rocky few weeks at the start of the season.

In Pictures | West Ham vs Wolves | 27/09/2020

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Pearce, who admits he did not appreciate quite how impressive Moyes was before working closely with him, feels the 57-year-old is undervalued in the Premier League.

"I personally do think he's underrated," says the former England international. "The couple of things that stood out to me is his work ethic is quite incredible, he is such a workaholic, and his knowledge of the game. How he studies the game, how he talks about the game.

"I've just come off the training pitch with him and while the players are doing their warm up he's talking about a tactical approach about the game on Sunday. I was stood there listening to him talking about moving footballs into certain places to mimic the opposition and how they might play and we probably spoke for 20-25 minutes, just impromptu about a tactical approach for our game at the weekend.

"I thought, you know what, I'd pay good money to do this at a conference, to listen to him talk about a tactical approach of a game that we've got coming up. He really has got a vast knowledge of the game.

"I think our game at times underestimates people that have been involved in the game for as long as he has. There are two managers coming into it this Sunday, Mourinho and Moysey that have got a wealth of experience. At certain times, certain people have almost written them off or underestimated them and I thought, ‘How sad is that?’ It's ridiculous, really, with the CVs that both of them have got.

(West Ham United FC via Getty Images)
West Ham United FC via Getty Ima

"Dave's a builder, he built Preston and put Preston on the map, he certainly did the same at Everton as well. I think nothing would please him more than be able to build a legacy at West Ham."

Pearce spent time during lockdown working on a book on his story of Euro 96, titled Never Stop Dreaming, released this week, but is thoroughly enjoying being back amongst the cut and thrust of Premier League football.

He returned to West Ham in August, eight months after he suggested the Hammers board had blocked his appointment because he criticised the club two years ago.

"I honestly didn't think I gave a lot of criticism, I don't think I'm that way inclined," says Pearce, who says Moyes played the decisive role in clearing the path for his return. "It showed humility of the owners."

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