Former West Ham midfielder John Moncur has had a lot to say about West Ham in the last couple of days, not least about the positive upturn in form from David Moyes’ side.
Having looked dead and buried only a few weeks ago, especially given the run of fixtures to come, it’s somewhat encouraging that West Ham did not disgrace themselves in the defeats to Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Indeed, the Hammers were leading at Anfield until the Champions-elect managed to win it 3-2, while it only took a late VAR-influenced winner to stop Moyes’ men taking something from the Emirates last weekend.
And such positive run of performances has given everyone associated with the club a bit of lift as we head into the final few months of the campaign, and now there is renewed hope that we’ll be able to remain in the Premier League come May.
Moncur – who made 203 first-team appearances for the club, scoring nine goals – believes that Moyes’ side recently turned a corner, and put it down to a tweak in strategy against the better sides and the improved form of the likes of Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen.
So while West Ham are only just outside the relegation on goal difference right now, odds on Premier League survival will have greatly improved with safe sportsbooks not on gamstop. However, there remains a number of difficult fixtures in the way, including Wolves, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Moncur said: “Yeah, I think we’ve turned a corner.
“If you take the last three performances, obviously we’ve beaten Southampton which was a result we desperately needed, while after the Man City game we looked like we had no threat whatsover. Whereas we went to Liverpool and we caused some problems.
“I think we’ve we’re learning to sort of build a good away structure, and that showed at Arsenal. I think by sitting back and letting these teams dominate, you can reserve a bit of energy and as long as you all know what you’re doing and meet them on the break and get in behind them, which with the likes of [Michail] Antonio and [Jarrod] Bowen now, we can do that.”
Moncur also had a lot to say about youngster Jeremy Ngakia, who has been a revelation since making his debut against Liverpool last month.
His emergence, is akin to winning the jackpot on sites like maximumcasinos for most West Ham fans, and Moncur has been hugely impressed with how he’s taken to being on the big stage.
Moncur added: “I think there’s a rawness about him, obviously, but he’s got a lot of natural talent.
“He’s rangey and he’s got that sort of rawness and that that sort of length in his limbs – he’s so hard to get past so I think he’s been a real bonus.
“The whole club, all the senior players, will be thinking, blimey, we want to be a part of this. We need that at West Ham, all the fans loved to see a homegrown player come through and so I’m really excited for him.”
Moncur also spoke positively about the impact Jarrod Bowen has had since arriving from Hull City in January and he believes West Ham will be able to stay in the Premier League beyond the current campaign.
