West Ham United manager David Moyes spoke to the media at length on Friday afternoon ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Leicester City.
The game that sees 15th host 14th in the Premier League at the London Stadium at the weekend is West Ham's last before the season pauses for the World Cup in Qatar.
Here is every word Moyes said on that game, the World Cup squads, Jarrod Bowen, Alphonse Areola and much, much more.
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What is the latest team news?
"Emerson is touch and go because he broke his nose in midweek. He's had it reset. I’m not sure how Emerson is going to be. We've got a couple of other knocks and niggles which I’m sure all teams have. We’re waiting on a couple of things for tomorrow to find out exactly who is available. Cornet is definitely out. He won't come back until after the World Cup."
How delighted are you that Declan Rice, Lucas Paqueta, Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola and Thilo Kehrer are all off to the World Cup?
"I’m thrilled for them, I’ve congratulated them all. It must be a brilliant thing for a player going to the World Cup and play in a World Cup, something which you will always remember, something you can always say. We are wishing them well. We’re in the middle of the season, it’s quite difficult. Normally, it’s the end of the season you would be sending them off and watching it. I think from a selfish point of view, they all come back free from injury and are ready. But, I want them all to be successful, I really do."
Have you spoken to Jarrod Bowen and Kurt Zouma about missing out?
"I have. I think Kurt was probably aware that it might be hard to make the French squad. I think Jarrod, we had big hopes that Jarrod might have crept in the team but I think Jarrod will be the first to admit that his form has got to be up, he’s got to play really well and score goals and make assists, which he did last year which made him an England international.
"We got a great thrill out of Jarrod being an England international, we really did because we had taken him from the lower leagues, we bought him through and Jarrod is the one who does it, not us, but I think when you are a manager of a new international player it’s a big moment."
What do you make of Leicester City’s James Maddison being named in England’s World Cup squad?
"Gareth Southgate has selected really well, a semi-final, a final in the last couple of competitions. You have to say he’s picked really well and Gareth’s choices are what matter. It’s okay you having an opinion or me having an opinion. Gareth’s opinion over the last however the last period has been really good. I think he has made a good choice in James Maddison, I think he’s playing very well and as everyone knows, he is a really talented footballer."
What were your reflections on the defeat to Blackburn Rovers?
"Extremely disappointed we didn’t go through, it shouldn’t have gone to penalty kicks, we should have had the game won before then. It can happen sometimes when it goes to penalties. Give Blackburn some credit, they did a lot of good things. We didn’t play quite at our level but, on the night, we had done enough to win the game. We just didn’t quite get it over the line."
How big is this game against Leicester City?
"It's as big as all the others. You get three points for it. But we are fully aware that we want to finish this period of the season in good form. We’ve had a lot of really good things so far this season, the European campaign especially is one that we would pick out but we certainly know we need to do better in the Premier League."
Is the World Cup break going to be good for West Ham?
"It depends if you in Europe or the Premier League. If you look at the European stuff, you would say the break is a bad thing, but if you look at the league for us, you would say it is a good thing. We’ll prepare, give us a chance to get everybody back again and go again. Look forward to the second half of the season."
What effect do you think the World Cup could have on the season?
"It’s the thing that nobody knows really. It’s that the bit that nobody is aware of, we’ve not had it before. Lots of countries have winter breaks and their season picks up and I don’t think there’s an awful lot of change in it. I don’t know if it’s quite the same because a lot of players, especially the Premier League, I don’t know how many players in the Premier League are actually going to the World Cup but I’m guessing it will be as probably as big as any country maybe in Europe or certainly in any continent I would think. From that point of view, how is it going to affect all of the players coming back from the World Cup? It’s certainly something that we don’t really know."
How will West Ham be spending the World Cup break?
"We'll give some players some rest, I think we’ve played more games than any other Premier League team at this time after we play this season. Give the players a bit of rest then come back and get them in good knick. They've been great here and responded really well to everything we’ve done so hopefully we can get them back in good condition."
Do you feel under pressure going into this game?
"I’ve had pressure all the time. If you’re in this job, you’ve got pressure so no more than any other game. We have to try and win which we do in any other game, whether you’re at the top of the league you have to win it, if you’re at the bottom of the league you have to win as well."
What would you say to Nathan Jones, who is about manage his first Premier League game after taking the Southampton job?
"It’s a brilliant league to be in. I think it’s an honour to be given a job at any Premier League club and he should be pleased at his achievement and his move up. For me, the biggest thing is that we’ve got a manager out of the Championship getting a job in the Premier League. There will be many who would love that opportunity. I hope Nathan can fly the flag and do well for his club and for himself."
How wary should West Ham be about facing Leicester City?
"We've got the same points as them so we must have done something somewhere in the league which was okay. We know we have got a really difficult game. They are playing well, they have done so we'll need to be our best."
How pleased are you in France’s trust in picking Alphonse Areola despite not being your first choice?
"I think rightly so. I think he’s been so good this season in the European games. If you look at last year, he’s been really, really good for us. With Lukasz (Fabianski) being 37 now and Lukasz is playing ever so well as well, but obviously we’ve got someone ready when we feel that moment comes. That’s why we signed Areola, we like him a lot and he’s certainly really, really difficult to beat in goal at times and we’re pleased with him."
Is it great to say your future No.1 goalkeeper will have that World Cup experience?
"Yes. I think he’s been with France a lot and they must see as much as what we see in him as well. He’s had a lot of European games last season, we got to the semi-final and he played in all of the games. He had one or two incredible saves, which he’s had at different times and he has this season. He was a bit slow at the start but I think since then, he’s picked up and he’s in really good form."
How do you manage the fact that players may be worried about getting injured against Leicester City tomorrow?
"I didn’t know on Wednesday for the cup game, I’d already made my mind up and told the players a few days before that I knew the boys who were going to Qatar wouldn’t play because I felt it was my responsibility to them and my relationship with them that I don’t play them in a league cup game.
"I found it very difficult to accept that a league cup game would be squeezed in at this point of the season. Premier League games are different and I felt I had a responsibility to those players to try and give them the best chance of being fit for the World Cup, so I chose not to use the boys in that game. Not the Premier League, everybody is there and we’ve also tried to save some of them in the Conference League at times this year, tried not to give them too much. I think in more recent times, a lot of them, there heads will be thinking more towards the World Cup. I think as a manager, I’d hope they would think that the manager here has tried to look after them the best they can."
Are you not worried that during the game, at the back of their mind they might be thinking they may play more cautiously?
"No. I think if you are a player you would understand it when you are there and you are in the moment and you are playing, you are not thinking exactly about any situation. I don’t believe they would do, somebody might tell me different."
What do you think has changed since your last meeting with Leicester City?
"Probably a big question. We’ve changed a lot of players around, we’re trying to rebuild in a way and build up again where we can become even stronger than we were over the past couple of years. Adding that layer on, sometimes you can have a good season or a bad season. Leicester City only [six] years ago were winning the Premier League, incredible.
"The Premier League is unforgiving and we’ve got a much stronger Premier League I think now than maybe years gone by. I think the teams coming are competitive, you have to keep improving if you don’t keep adding to your squad or you can fall behind a little bit. We’ve added to our squad, Leicester wouldn't probably say they same. They haven’t added too many players to their squad. I think there’s a big difference between the two clubs at this present time."
Leicester City started the season slowly but have improved now, is this maybe not the best time to play them?
"You never know. The Premier League at the moment is throwing up so many different anomalies, you wouldn’t know when would be the case. At any time you're seeing some shock results. It could be partially due to the World Cup, it could be partially to do with fixtures. There’s lots of reasons which might get involved in it but at the moment, we know we're playing against a good Leicester City and we are going to have play well."
If you could summarise the season so far in one word?
"Lots of good stuff, lots of stuff that’s been not so good. I think I wouldn’t be wrong in putting the unlucky next to that in some moments, but must do better."
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