David Moyes has told Nayef Aguerd he still has work to do to adapt to English football, after the West Ham defender made a string of costly errors in last night’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.
Having missed most of the first half of the season through injury, Aguerd has been one of the Hammers’ best performers since the winter break. But he endured a rare off-night at Old Trafford as West Ham missed out on the chance to reach the quarter-finals.
The 26-year-old headed an own-goal past Alphonse Areola after Said Benrahma had given his visitors the lead, missed a chance to clear the ball in the build-up to Alejandro Garnacho’s strike and was then being caught in possession for Fred’s stoppage-time clincher.
“He’s someone we really like but I’ve said it’s going to take him a bit of time to get settled into the Premier League,” said Moyes of the centre-back, who signed in a £28million deal from Rennes last summer.
“It’s moments like tonight, moments like that, where you see the level of the game and the intensity, how tough it is and how much pressure you’re put under by good players and good teams in the Premier League.
“They’re the kind of things I’ve been alluding to without saying it directly, which Nayef will have to get used to.”
After arriving at the London Stadium, Aguerd suffered an ankle injury during a pre-season friendly with Rangers that delayed his Premier League debut until the defeat to Leicester in West Ham’s final game before the World Cup.
The Moroccan was outstanding during his country’s run to the semi-finals in Qatar despite a tournament disrupted by injury and Moyes believes he has both the quality and resilience to bounce back from a grim night in Manchester.
“No doubt,” Moyes said. “It’s a journey for him. I think if we got him right at the start of the season, by this time he would have been through this period but it was always going to be a little bit of settling-in period. He had played very well and he played very well tonight up until the last 10 minutes or so.”
