West Ham United manager David Moyes spoke at length on Friday afternoon during his press conference at the club’s Rush Green training ground.
The Hammers head to Derby County on Monday night in the fourth round of the FA Cup, hoping to avoid a shock exit against their League One opponents.
Here is every word Moyes said on the game, transfers, Michail Antonio’s recent comments, Everton, and more.
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How big of a win was it to beat Everton?
Any win, you feel much better, I can tell you that when you are in football. It was an important win for us and one we were pleased to get.
With the sides already gone out of the competition, is the FA Cup a good opportunity for you this season?
Yes it is, but you still have to win the games, whoever is put in front of you. It always sounds like that until you have to go and play the opponent. Last year, we had an unbelievable game against Kidderminster where we came minutes away from getting knocked out in that. This competition, anything can happen and we’ve seen it over the years. We need to be on our mettle, we need to play well. Derby are on a really good run at the moment, they are a football club which are Premier League in stature and size. We will go there and we will give them all of the respect we can and hopefully try and get through to the next round, but they will be thinking the same.
Do you have to fight being the side trying to stop an FA Cup upset when you play Derby County?
I've been on the other side as well when at Preston. We got Arsenal when they were champions and they were invincibles and we were 2-0 up at one point, we ended up losing 4-2 unfortunately. It was an incredible game and I think it happens. Quite often, we have games in this competition where it does happen. We have to be at our best to get through. I think the competition could open up, you mention a few teams getting knocked out already. Always, in any competition with the draws, everybody wants to win the cup, no doubt about that and everybody wants to get to the final, there is no doubt about that. But sometimes, the draw can go against you or sometimes, you can play badly and find yourself getting knocked out.
What would it mean personally for you to win a trophy?
It would be huge, every year we try to win a trophy. I don’t get the bit where we hear that maybe because you change the team, or you change a few players, that means you don’t want to win a trophy. People who think that way are completely naive. As managers, we all want to win a trophy. We also have squads of players we need to try and look after, so there’s a management issue behind the scenes which we have to deal with. Maybe you think you want to look and try something else. I think we’ve seen that in the FA Cup already, I saw the teams Liverpool and Wolves put out in the replay and that would suggest quite a few of the teams have changed their players around.
Is 43 years too long for a club not to win a trophy?
I'd like to say yes but I think there’s probably other clubs in a similar situation. I think there’s a monopoly of clubs who have won trophies in this competition and the Premier League, for example. I’m sure people will put the Wigan Athletics in recent times who won the FA Cup etc and teams who have done that. I think ultimately what tends to happen, it tends to be the best side in the country who wins, but now and again, that doesn’t happen. We need to go there and prove we are one of the best sides in the country and try and win the trophy.
How important is it to build on the momentum you now have?
100%. The idea is to go again, try and build momentum, try and pick up on a really good result. I think we’ve had some okay performances which didn’t lead to results. Last week was an okay performance which did lead to a result. I’m looking to improve on both and I’m looking to improve on our performance. I’m looking to build on scoring more goals than we did in this game (against Everton) if we possibly can and building on the clean sheet we got which was really important for us.
Do you anticipate a busy final few days of the transfer window in terms of incomings and outgoings?
I don’t think so probably [with] either. I think we thought we bought in our players in the summer and then because of where things were, we decided we wanted to bring in Danny Ings in the recent week or so, so we did the majority of what we can do. I wouldn’t want to sit here and say we wouldn’t do any other business and I wouldn’t want to say someone may leave before then. The truth is, I don't really know. If I had something lined up to come in or go, there’s none of that in the pipeline at the moment but with four or five days to go, who knows what would happen.
Does Danny Ings’ injury mean Michail Antonio will not be going this month?
Well it's not the club talking about Micky Antonio, I think Micky is the one talking about it. Unfortunately Danny Ings picked up an injury in the first 15-20 seconds of the game. We don't think it's that bad and he'd be cup-tied anyway so we've got a little bit of grace there. Hopefully he's not going to miss too much. He's had an injection in his knee and hopefully he can get back quickly.
Are you looking for another striker?
No not really I think in the main we've spent money on Danny which we weren't necessarily expecting to do but we felt we could add to what we've got. At the moment I don't necessarily see us spending more money but I don't want to say that and then you tell me you told me something different because this world changes very quickly.
How's the squad looking at the moment?
The squad are good. I'm really pleased. We got a great boost from the win against Everton. I'm seeing it in training, an improvement in the spirits, all the things you would hope. So we'll go there with a strong squad and try and get through in the cup but we also know Derby County are on a great run and as I said before Derby would not be out of place as a football club in the Premier League. They've had problems over four or five years but it looks like they're just beginning to get themselves back together a little just now.
Are you surprised to see Derby in League One?
I don't think anybody should be surprised because look at big clubs like Sheffield Wednesday, we had Leeds United down for a long time, lots of big clubs. I think when you do go down it can be difficult to get back and it proved that way for Derby. I know they've had other problems behind the scenes as well. They've had to work hard but they've got themselves in a strong position in the first division. And we went to Kidderminster last year who were probably another three or four leagues down, so we're certainly not going to pay Derby no respect. We are going to give them every bit of respect they deserve as a football club and as a team but we'll go there and try to get wor-selves through in the cup.
Are you aware about not being complacent after the near-defeat to Kidderminster last season?
It wouldn't make me less complacent because I'm always wary of it. I got brought up watching Hereford and Newcastle, Ronnie Radford's goal, I remember those memories of that goal, the shocks, and what that felt like at the time. Ever since that day, we've, certainly me, I've not been surprised when you see teams have great wins in the cup.
How did it feel to win the game against Everton, with it being labelled as whoever lost got sacked?
Well I can't answer that can I? I didn't feel I was put in that position. I feel the board have backed me terrifically well. They made me feel really comfortable and at ease.
How disappointed were you to see Frank Lampard lose his job?
I was really disappointed. We just got to a situation where the games have got to for us all, really tight, the level of competition at the bottom end of the league. You can see how difficult it is to get victories. We narrowly lost to Wolves the week before and thankfully we got a decent victory against Everton.
Would Sean Dyche be a good fit for him?
It's not for me to talk about either. I know them both very well. I know Dychey really well. Brilliant job at Burnley and had a great time. And if you're asking about Everton, Everton's a great club and I'm disappointed to see them broken a little bit at the moment but it will come back together. They're moving into a new stadium so they'll want to be in the Premier League and show everyone what they are. It's a great club.
Are you surprised by Michail Antonio’s recent comments?
Micky said it but we here have got no intention of doing anything. Sometimes players choose to do that, some of them want to go. But at the moment we want Mick here, we want him playing well, we want him scoring goals, and we're happy to have him.
Is there a timescale on Danny Ings’ injury?
No. None that I would give you.
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