West Ham United boss David Moyes spoke at length after his side’s 3-1 win over Fulham at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Andreas Pereira had put Fulham ahead early on, but goals from Jarrod Bowen (penalty), Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio gave West Ham their third straight win in all competitions.
Here is every word Moyes said on the win, Scamacca’s controversial goal, Lucas Paqueta and more.
READ MORE: West Ham player ratings: Lucas Paqueta stars in Hammers' Fulham win after VAR controversy
What did you make of the performance and result?
It was really impressive. We started slow. They started well, they had a great start with a goal and hitting the bar. We probably only came alive once they hit the bar on the second one. A win in the Premier League, whoever you are playing, is really difficult. After Thursday night and going a goal behind, the boys showed really big character. I thought we created enough chances in the first half and maybe, we deserved to be at least a draw. Gianluca [Scamacca] getting in and behind down the side, he had a header which the goalkeeper made a really good save from. We had two or three big opportunities ourselves. Then we got the penalty kick which was the correct decision.
Did Craig Dawson use all of his experience to win the penalty?
I’d probably go the opposite way. I’d probably say I would be really annoyed if one of my defenders had defended like that. We had a league managers' meeting where we talked a little bit about defending and if you're going to use two arms in a sort of cupping position and cup anybody then that's not allowed in this game. What you do, if you are defending and you are trying to keep someone away, you tend to use one arm and try to keep the distance, keep them close. You can’t stop somebody going, that is not for this sport. Actually, I was surprised the referee hadn't made the call even sooner because he gave him two chances I think before he made it on the third.
Have you seen Gianluca Scamacca’s goal back? Were VAR right to allow the goal to stand?
I have seen it back. I saw a little bit at the touchline and I saw it when it came on the big screen. When I saw it, I thought he hadn’t celebrated because he thought he was offside, but he told me they were onside. I’ve seen it since and he sort of controls it, it comes down the side and if anything, it looks like it is going to hit his backside on the right side. From my point of view, I don’t see a hand involved in it at all. If you are Fulham, you are going to say you see a hand involved in it. I can’t see anything which changed the direction of the ball, I can’t see anything which had a huge impact. I know the rules now, anything which is a touch of the hand would lead to it. I didn’t see it and it took such a long time, I thought it was going to go against us, but it went for us.
Is Gianluca Scamacca showing why you spent the money you did to sign him?
Yes. I think what he has shown is he’s not a one trick pony when it comes to goalscoring. I actually fancied him the one he got down and he shot past the post. He had a really good header which the goalkeeper makes a save from and today, he scores a bit of a deft chip. Sometimes that action in the game, at the moment, are not what forwards might finish it off because he might have thought he was offside, but he did the job and he finished the action off because if it had been onside, the last thing he would have wanted to do is not deal with it or put it over the bar. He did it well and it gave us a good chance of getting us a goal.
Given he missed three in the first half, how pleasing was it that he kept going?
It is. I think that if you are a young striker coming into this country and you look at the strikers and you said that we spent a lot of money, probably not close to what many of the teams in the top half have in regards to centre forwards. We bought in a young centre forward who is doing really well and young and I think, will get better as well. He’s got a lot of different elements to the game, changes the way we play a little bit. It’s taken a little bit of time, but his finishing and his composure at times on the ball and his link up play was very good.
Are you surprised how quickly Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca have seemed to gel together?
If you were any centre forward, you'd want to play with [Lucas] Paqueta, he’s looks like he is someone who is going to give you the ball when maybe you need it or when the opposition least expect it. I thought there were bits of Paqueta today that were terrific and then there were other bits that I thought were poor. I think at the moment, it’s the bit between the really high and the low, but I thought today he played ever so well.
After signing Gianluca Scamacca, do you feel you need to add a creative player to him?
We were looking for someone else who could link the play from Declan (Rice) and Tomas (Soucek) and link the forwards and we needed someone in that. We were linked with a lot of players and some of them, we couldn’t get and some we did. Paqueta we didn’t think was available to us until really late on and we thought he was going to one of the bigger clubs, but in the end, he didn’t. It gave us a chance to get him. I'm glad we got him. He's a great boy, a really good boy. The difference as well is his work rate and his energy for the team is a really big part of him as well, it’s not just the passes and the flicks and the movement, he’s a really good, hard-working boy.
Do you feel your season is really up and running now after three wins in eight days?
Yes, you might correct me. Someone said five in six, is that right? Whatever it is, it is still something you have to do. We are going in the right direction but there are still bits of it that I need to get better. I am still waiting on Nayef Aguerd coming back. We played the first three or four games without Craig Dawson and we hardly had any defenders in some of the early games. We’re beginning to get people back, we are beginning to feel as if we are getting a bit of rhythm. There are signs that we are creating a few more chances. In our early games, we couldn’t score a goal. Today, we made five or six pretty good opportunities. I’ve got to say that it was great that Micky (Antonio) scored today as well because he’s a huge part of the team here and we are going to need him. It’ll never be easy if you are starting Micky Antonio and bringing Gianluca [Scamacca] on, or if you are starting Gianluca and bringing Micky Antonio on, it’ll give us options to do that and hopefully, we can try and cause teams problems with those players.
The man on the PA said “oh what a bench we have” before kick-off. Is this the best depth you’ve had in your time at the club?
Did he? I think that was David Sullivan, who was the announcer. The plan was to strengthen the team, the plan was to try and strengthen to be better than what we’ve been in the past couple of years. To be able to play in Europe, not with a completely different team but have enough players to have a go there and have a real go in the Premier League. The club and the board have been fantastic, you can see that they’ve tried to back us. What we’ve just had at the start, trying to bring boys in like Maxwel Cornet. No games, very little training. Gianluca, a little bit. It sounds excusey [sic] and I take that, but it has genuinely been the case.
Then, we’ve had no defenders in the opening games, [Craig] Dawson injured for six weeks with a thigh strain and [Nayef] Aguerd does his ankle at Rangers. A lot of the plans which we had made it a little bit more difficult but I know how it goes. You have to win and suddenly, we are just starting to find a little bit more or creeping back into it.
When we started here, we were fourth bottom of the league, we had to find a way of grinding ourselves up. In probably two years, we’ve gone from fourth bottom of the league to challenging the top four in the Premier League. That takes a lot of doing and that takes a lot for us, the effort the players are putting in has been unbelievable. Then for us to really sustain it and maintain it, my experience said if I don’t go and add players and I don’t go and try and take on a young Italian centre forward, because we couldn’t play £60million or £70million for other centre forwards. It might look like nailed on players, but in truth, a lot of the ones we are having to take on are still sort of risk players in where we are. Aguerd, never played over here before, we think a lot of him. We buy Flynn Downes from Swansea, so we’re still at a level where we are building a team to try and be competitive at the top but probably, still short of what the top boys do.
Do you see Lucas Paqueta growing in confidence with back-to-back assists?
I thought as if he just felt he looked stronger, a little bit fitter today as well, which he’s got. They are all finding the speed of the Premier League. You can see, we’ve got people like Declan Rice, you can see at the end of the game they are washed out because of the effort they are having to put in to win games or chase them if you are losing or hang in when you are 1-0 up. It’s enormous efforts at the moment that the players are putting in. Obviously players are travelling on a Thursday, we’re playing on a Sunday, it’s less prep time, less rest time. For us to win a couple of games at home after a European game and winning midweek as well, it’s been a really good week.
How important is it to get as many points as possible on the table before the World Cup?
I agree. I’ve said in the last year or two, I hope we never go back to where we were when we took over. The point of the matter is, you have to earn it. You look at some of the clubs, at the moment, the Premier League is unforgiving and you are always going to look at it. I really think there is a tightening up of the teams and really little between the teams.
I thought that today, Fulham could’ve gone 2-0 up with a shot that hits the bar and that’s the small margins. I could’ve been talking completely different in this room today if maybe that had happened. You have to take what you can and today, we took it. In the end, I thought it was deserved because of the way we went about it and the chances we scored and missed.
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