West Ham United manager David Moyes spoke to the media at length on Tuesday afternoon ahead of facing Newcastle United on Friday afternoon.
The Hammers head into the game sat 14th in the Premier League table but only clear of the relegation zone by a single point, facing a Newcastle side that sit third in the league table.
Here is every word Moyes said on the game, Lucas Paqueta, Graham Potter’s recent exit at Chelsea and more.
READ MORE : Every word West Ham's David Moyes said on Southampton win, Nayef Aguerd and Brendan Rodgers
What is the latest team news?
It’s roughly the same squad. The only news that we’ve got is that Gianluca Scamacca’s got two weeks rehabilitation on his knee at the moment, which is going to keep him out for a couple of weeks. We’ll need to see how it is going forward, we think it doesn’t need surgery at the moment but we just need to see how the next two weeks go.
Is Newcastle United’s season a sign that sometimes signings need to be given time to settle?
I think for Newcastle for example, and I’m not an expert but when I looked at the form (Miguel) Almiron is in and Joelinton, who have been at the club for such a long time and obviously since Eddie’s come in they’ve been playing ever so well, coupled with the other players they have bought in as well. Sometimes, I think it does take time for players to settle in. You get a bit of momentum, improve your confidence, your form. Newcastle have certainly done that and I have to say, for the last two or three years, we’ve been doing it as well. We’ve had some really good signings who have done very, very well and hopefully, we can do that again.
Are you excited with how far Lucas Paqueta can go?
He’s a really good player, but I think Newcastle have got a really good player in (Bruno) Guimaraes as well, two Brazilian players, interesting. Lucas has improved as we’ve gone along, it's not just his ability, we've just been trying to get him used to it, what we’ve talked about, it takes a little bit of time for some people. We’re still looking for more creativity, things that lead to more goals or chances, so hopefully we can add that to his already good performances.
How tricky is this league getting with Newcastle’s takeover and improvement?
It makes me smile, I look at it and I think to myself, look how well Brighton are doing and Brentford and Fulham have done this year. You look at it in the last couple of years at West Ham,.we have been right among the top teams. Everybody is having a real go. I don’t really think there is any guarantee that you do well one season, it means that you’re necessarily well the next season. There’s a couple of clubs, us probably in particular who we would look at in that situation. I do think that there's a really, really competitive Premier League and it would be very difficult to judge how it will work out next year as well because I think a lot of the teams will look to improve, but you just never know how it works out.
Do you feel your players have stepped up for you in these ‘must win’ games?
Yes. The players have done what I expect them to do because I actually think we've got big characters, we’ve got good players and they’ve done exactly what we’ve wanted. But obviously, what we wanted is to be much higher in the Premier League. Now we need to move on, sort of get ourselves moving, start to look a bit higher up, be positive on every game we go into. It was a really important victory for us against Southampton and it makes us in a position where it's up to us to stay away from the bottom end of the league.
What do you think the main reasons are for the decline this season? Injuries? New signings not gelling?
Injuries, maybe a bigger turnover than maybe I would have liked, if I look back at it. Losing Mark Noble, which was a big loss in many ways, but overall bringing in the players, but also, it’s getting the players who have been so good for the last two or three years to keep it at that level. Realise that this is what you need to do to keep, if you’re going to be successful, you have to keep it up, you can’t sort of just do it one season and not the other. You have to keep at it all of the time.
Have you got a welcome dilemma between Michail Antonio and Danny Ings up front?
I’ve got decisions in quite a few positions, I really have. We’ve got competition for places, I'm hoping that competition will add something to the players that start in the team, get that jersey. We’ll give you it, but you’re not going to keep hold of it for too long if you’re not coming up with the goods. Let's hope we can keep that squad fit and healthy for as long as we can because we’ve really struggled in the early part of the season with injuries and people being out.
What was your reaction to Graham Potter leaving Chelsea hours after Brendan Rodgers left Leicester City?
I replied to Brendan Rodgers thing which I was really disappointed for Brendan and I'm exactly the same for Graham Potter, because I think that they're both very good managers. I’m sure both will be back in the game, I don’t think they will be out for very long. Sadly in the industry we are in, it can happen and we’re all aware of it. The competition levels in the Premier League could be somebody next year who surprises you who could be in trouble and it looks like we’re having quite a lot of changes at the moment which is disappointing.
Is Mikel Arteta the definition of giving managers time and it working? Do managers need more time, especially when there has been a massive turnaround?
The managers always want to say that, we’re reluctant to say it because actually, in football, you really don’t get given time, we know that you have to win. Let’s be fair, you media boys drive most of it, every time a manager is in trouble, you are quite often pushing it. We’re in that industry and we all accept it.
How does it feel to have a group that are coming out on top in these must win games?
Who is saying it was a must win game? There you go. We're treating every game as we would do, we’re treating every game as a must win game, whether it had been last season when we were going for the top end of the league, or whether it is this season when we’re trying to get away from the bottom, they are all must win. That’s what it feels like to be the managers and the players, but I do understand your point. We've not been in a strong position and actually, getting out of trouble, has been really important. The players know and understand the position we are in and understand the job we have to try and do. Unfortunately, the club have been in this position before, several times before. I’m not saying that gives you any greater experience or greater understanding of doing that, but I think it tells you that we have to find ways of winning and the last couple of games, we’ve been able to do that.
How different of a challenge are you expecting from Newcastle United, considering they are going for a Champions League spot?
Probably about this time last year, we maybe dropped out of the Champions League race this time last year because of the European games had caught up. Newcastle had not had any European games this season, they’ve been able to focus completely on their league games or their cup games, their domestic cup games. I think by the time you get into European games, then it becomes a different ball game and you have different scenarios, which we’ve had, but they’re doing a really good job, Newcastle.
How important will it be to stop Bruno Guimaraes tomorrow night?
That’s one player I mentioned, but I think they’ve got lots of other players. I mentioned earlier the form of Almiron and Joelinton, how they’ve changed and the players they’ve bought in and the performances of their two centre halves are doing at Newcastle, they don’t concede a lot of goals. There’s a lot of good things about them. People were talking about us that way maybe a year or so ago, or a bit longer. I know what it’s like, it’s good, you have to try and build on it and keep it going and it will be interesting to see how Newcastle do in years to come.
How important is the partnership between Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd for keeping clean sheets?
I think it's really important for us going forward that we keep them fit and we keep them playing together going forward as much as we can. It’s like anything else, we have to make sure they get to know each other, we’ve not had [time] for much work together. Even in the international break for example, we didn't have Nayef here because he was away with Morocco, there isn’t that many periods we have had the chance to give them days and days to work with them getting used to each other. They are both very good players, both international players and it’s really important we keep them playing well and playing together.
How has the win over Southampton galvanised your squad in the past few days?
I think what it’s done is it’s given us a feeling of when it has come to some of the crunch games, we’ve been able to win.I think more importantly, our home in the main has been okay, so we take confidence from that but yes, it was a really good win.
Is your poor away form a big concern going into the back end of the season?
It is a huge concern, our away from is nowhere like our form that we have shown over the last few years, nothing like it. Nothing like our resilience and toughness shown in a lot of away games in the last few years, it’s obviously something which we have to attempt to find a way of doing better.
Does it add more pressure going into games like this?
Of course it does, because it means your home games are becoming vital. I believe we will win away games between now and the end of the season, I really do, but I’ve not been proud of our record, certainly leading up to this period.
Is now a tougher time to play Newcastle United than when you drew with them two months ago?
I don't know, it's a difficult thing to work out, when it's a good time or bad time to play teams. I think Newcastle have been pretty good for most of the season, I really do. I don't think they’ve really had a spell where they've fallen off. I know they had a couple of games where they didn’t get any results. Look, we've got to be ready and we know we're in for a big game.
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