West Ham United manager David Moyes spoke to the media at length on Tuesday morning ahead of facing Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round at Old Trafford.
For the Hammers, the game comes off the back of their biggest win of the season, winning 4-0 against Nottingham Forest to move two points clear of the relegation zone. For United, they kick-off against Moyes' side just over 72 hours after beating Newcastle United to win the Carabao Cup.
Ahead of the fixture, here is every word Moyes said on the game, United, Erik ten Hag, Marcus Rashford, Danny Ings and more.
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What is the latest team news ahead of facing Manchester United?
We've got a squad available and ready to go. We've got a few injuries, Lukasz Fabianski has got a fractured cheekbone and eye socket. We don't know whether it will be operated on yet, or whether it will heal itself or a timespan at the moment. That’s the update on Lukasz Fabianski. Vladimir Coufal has got a heel injury, that will keep him out. I think that's really the two injuries we have from the weekend. Apart from that, I think the squad is just about what it was. Danny Ings is cup tied obviously.
Does that mean Michail Antonio comes in after scoring against Nottingham Forest?
It was great that Danny Ings scored the goals, Mick’s played most of the games this season, so it will be no surprise if Mick plays, that’s for sure.
How has the mood been around the camp after the 4-0 win?
We’ve always had a good mood around the camp, even before it, I always felt as if the players were in good spirits. We try to focus on the games one at a time and we focussed really well on Nottingham Forest, it got us a really important three points in the league and goals as well, which have been difficult to come by. Really pleased with how the players performed, hopefully we can build on it and keep it going.
What did you make of Manchester United during the Carabao Cup final?
I think everybody has seen a much improved Manchester United. I thought Newcastle actually played very well in the game as well. Newcastle are a very good team as well and it was a tight game, but Manchester United got there in the end.
Is this a good time to play Manchester United?
I don’t know about that. I think Manchester United have got a really strong squad of players but we feel as if we are improving, we feel like we’re getting a little bit closer to something like our past selves. Hopefully, we can show that and put on a good show in the game.
Do you already have an idea about the team you are going to name or will you wait until after training to decide?
I’ve got my own way of doing it but I’m not going to tell you that at the moment. We’re actually on a couple of boys who have got knocks and injuries as well so I’ll wait to see how they are this morning. It’s a very quick turnaround, if you look at our fixtures, we have to go to Old Trafford away from home and unfortunately, we didn’t get our game at Brighton moved to the Sunday, which would have helped us greatly. It makes very difficult, an eight o’clock kick-off at Old Trafford on a Wednesday, and then we’re away to Brighton on Saturday. With it being a FA Cup midweek fixture, which, let’s be fair, it’s not something which we normally have. Normally, all of these cup ties are at the weekend. This one getting fitted in makes it a bit more awkward, then, we have to go away to Cyprus. We’ve got three away games in a week now, all with a decent amount of travel.
How does that impact your thinking going into the game?
It's a really good question because we are having to think closer about how we do things. I would love to get West Ham to the cup final, 100 per cent I would. I would love to win the cup final when we get there. We had a great run at Everton, we got to the final one year, we got beat in the semi-final one year as well. I would love to take West Ham into a similar position. On the road, you’ve got to play some difficult games, going to Old Trafford is a really difficult game and I think we’ve drawn them now something like three out of the last four years away from home in the cup competitions. That’s the way it is, you’ve got to play the good teams in the journey. We’ve already been away to Brentford and Derby, so our draws in this competition so far have been really difficult, they’ve all been away from home. Let’s hope we can keep our run going. We’ve won the other two, so let’s see if we can try and win this one.
What are your standout memories from getting to the final with Everton in 2009?
Probably that we won on penalty kicks, I wouldn’t say it was well-planned but we knew there was a good chance we could push Manchester United really close. It was a big moment with us because we always knew it would be a tough game. It will be a tough game this week as well.
When the draw happened, you said your players would “thrive” with this tie. Do you sense that?
I think when you've not been having the best run of results, to win your last one and do it, score goals and feel as if we’re getting closer to form. But it’s now to come out and do it again and you have to go and play again, and we have to show it. Unfortunately, we've got a couple of injuries from what we've had, and obviously Danny Ings can’t play in this game as well, it just alters us and makes us change it a little bit again.
What do you think changed against Nottingham Forest compared to recent results?
I actually think that the biggest thing is that we finished off some opportunities. We’d gone a long period in the game where we hadn’t scored and we looked like it was going to be quite similar to our previous games where we just couldn’t get the final finish or the goal to come up with after having a lot of good play. In the end, we got one and then I think the biggest thing is that actually we scored the second really quickly which settled us right down and helped us.
How pleasing was it to not just win, but to register that scoreline too?
I think the players have been out and showed that. All of them played really well and we had a really good team performance. We actually think that recently we've done okay, we had a disappointing result at Tottenham but apart from that, we've had a run that has given us a few draws and a win. Hopefully, this win will keep that going. We’re pushing on, we need to try and climb the league table. As I alluded to earlier, we've now got an away game in the FA Cup now and next week, we’ve got an away game in the Conference League. We’ve got a lot to look forward to and hopefully, our form will continue to improve.
What have you made of what Erik ten Hag has done at Manchester United?
I think he's done a great job. I think Manchester United are a side which are used to success and I think that Manchester United are climbing the ladder back up towards where they want to be. He has to get a lot of credit for the work he is doing.
What do you think that Erik ten Hag has changed at Manchester United since being there?
You’re asking the wrong man, you should ask Erik ten Hag about that and what he’s doing. That would be the way I’d go about it. I can only look from a distance and admire him for the good work he’s doing at Manchester United.
Would you expect someone like Marcus Rashford to play in the FA Cup?
Again, I think you should ask Erik ten Hag that question. I couldn’t tell you what Manchester United are going to do. My only focus is on West Ham and what West Ham do and how we play and getting the right team and the right players available for the game.
Do you have a specific instruction to your players to defend against Marcus Rashford?
We have to defend against so many good players in the Premier League, Rashford is one of them. We played them up there earlier in the season, and we were really unfortunate, David De Gea played really, really well to keep them in the game, or we could’ve had a positive result. It was very close, the league game, I’m hoping we can give them another good game this time around.
How shrewd of a signing could the arrival of Danny Ings be for the run-in in the Premier League?
We were short with the injury to Gianluca Scamacca during the international break, he started to pick up an injury. We’ve brought him in to give us extra cover for Mick. Let’s be fair, our goal scoring this season has been letting us down and we wanted to bring someone in who we felt could give us some more goals as well, could add to what we had. It's just a start for Danny, he’s got a couple on his first full start which is great for us, great for him as well I have to say. We’re hoping to really build on it and we hope he can maintain that and keep the goals coming. I think as well for the team other people, Micky Antonio getting a goal and Declan Rice getting a goal has been great for the squad and hopefully, everybody will start chipping with some more goals.
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