LONDON: West Ham United boss David Moyes said he will put fond memories of his spell at Everton on the back burner ahead of Saturday’s Premier League meeting, but hopes to bring a similar sense of stability to his current team.
Moyes enjoyed a lengthy tenure at Everton from 2002-13, a period in which they regularly challenged for a top six spot, and was linked by British media with a return to Goodison Park before Carlo Ancelotti replaced sacked Marco Silva last month.
“I spent 11-1/2 great years there, but everything now is geared towards West Ham,” Moyes told reporters on Thursday. “I would like to do something here, get regular top six or seven football... there’s a similarity in the clubs.”
West Ham lost 1-0 at Sheffield United last weekend in their second league match under Moyes, who returned to replace Manuel Pellegrini after saving the east London club from the drop during a six-month stint in 2017-18.
West Ham are 16th in the table with 22 points from 21 games, just one point above the relegation zone, and Moyes said he needed more time to bed in his ideas.
“One thing it is hard as a manager to ask for is time but I need that to put my design down, get players in and get them ready for where we’re going to go,” Moyes added.
“We need the crowd behind us, willing us on. We want to get better, continue making progress.”
Moyes expects a difficult test against 11th-placed Everton who have won three of their four league games under Ancelotti.
“He’s had a good start. Incredibly experienced manager, maybe only Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson have more medals than he does. He’s decorated. It’s a tough game coming up,” he said.
— Reuters
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