Hammers Chat presenter ‘Gonzo’ has given his verdict on Mikel Arteta’s recent comments about West Ham United manager David Moyes.
Speaking in his most recent press conference ahead of today’s clash, Arteta spoke highly of Moyes and his time playing under him earlier in his career.
In particular, the Spaniard noted how Moyes played him as a winger despite being more adept in the centre, claiming that despite his ‘doubts’, the then-Everton boss gave Arteta the belief to trust in his ideas.
However, when analysing the comments made by the Arsenal boss, Gonzo claimed that there was a ‘concerning message’, as although he didn’t believe that Arteta was saying ‘anything negative’, his conclusion was that it says a lot about Moyes as a manager in terms of his potential tendency to field players in unfamiliar positions.
He stated: “How does David Moyes know when he’s buying players that they’re going to be able to adapt? And also, it sort of gives the indication that that conversation has happened after David Moyes had signed Arteta.
“I don’t think there was anything negative in what Arteta was saying, Arteta wasn’t intending on being negative in that; he was using it as something positive – basically, David Moyes taught me to be adaptable.
“But I think within that, there is not a negative message but there’s a concerning message, isn’t it, which is, as we often say, why does he just not buy round pegs for round holes? Why does he keep on buying these square pegs and trying to push them into round holes, I just don’t know.”
TIF Thoughts on Gonzo’s comments…
We believe that there’s a point to be made about Moyes trying to get his players to play in alternative positions to where they usually play.
This has continued since he took charge of the Hammers, with just one example being Jarrod Bowen. Moyes has played the winger as a forward in recent times, and it’s been a real stop-start campaign for the 26-year-old, who only has two Premier League goals to his name so far.
Moyes’ campaign with West Ham this season has been very underwhelming, as his side has only won one game from their last six Premier League matches and are amongst those clubs fighting for Premier League survival at present.
However, West Ham endured an impressive campaign last year finishing seventh in the league and were only two points off a Europa League slot. Moyes has certainly proven he can succeed with the Hammers and he’ll be aiming to rectify their poor start to the 2022/23 season, despite his unorthodox selection choices at times.