David Moyes said he was ‘disappointed’ with West Ham’s performance in the 2-1 win over West Brom and suggests that he wants to take us to the next level.
West Ham have been in top form this season and have only lost one game in their last 10 matches. We are currently 7th in the Premier League table and have now won our last four matches in a row.
However, following our 2-1 win over West Brom on Tuesday evening, Moyes made it clear that he still wasn’t happy with the performance despite getting the result we needed. And this wasn’t the first time he had mentioned it.
In a post-match interview after Burnley, he had a similar reaction and urged the players to score more goals. Despite our great start to the campaign, this has been one of our weaknesses, ranking 10th in the league in goals scored.
With our team playing remarkably well at the moment, Moyes’ reactions after these wins may have surprised a few fans. However, there is substance in his claims and it is clear to see that we should be beating teams by more than just a one-goal margin.
Seven of our nine wins have seen us win the game by one goal. This is where we could get caught out against bigger teams in the future, because we lack the conviction in our attacks that’ll help us finish games off completely rather than just scrape through.
We have taken 230 shots so far this season, 78 of them being on target (11th in the league), which totals to a 34% shooting accuracy rate.
We have also put in the 2nd most crosses in the whole league (425), highlighting that we are working hard to create chances but the finishing touch has often been missing.
Just by looking at this, we know that we have to become more clinical with our chances. If we become more efficient with our decision-making and the shots we take then we have a better chance of winning games more comfortably, which we have the potential to do.
The fact that our top striker, Michail Antonio, was out injured for two months should be mentioned. Therefore, we struggled in front of goal for a large part of the campaign, which ultimately makes our achievements in the league commendable so far.
But as Moyes has stated recently, there is most certainly another level for this West Ham side. Compared to last season, we have improved a lot in most areas within the side.
If we can build on the squad depth and start being more clinical in front of goal, we can expect to win games by more than just one goal. This exciting West Ham squad definitely has more to give, and it is up to David Moyes to try and find it within them.
