West Ham United boss David Moyes spoke to the media at length on Friday afternoon ahead of facing Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Hammers return from the international break sat in 18 th after picking up just four points and scoring just three goals in their seven games so far.
Here is every word Moyes said on Wolves, current pressure on him, Mark Noble’s return as sporting director and more.
READ MORE: West Ham duo questioned by former striker amid poor start to Premier League season
What is the latest team news?
We are feeling as if most of the players at the moment are returning from international duty okay. We’ve got Aguerd doing a little bit on the grass but nowhere near the level of training, but at least he’s sort of getting back outside a little bit more. Ben Johnson has had a week and a half of training so he is closing in on fitness. I think that is it about them all really.
How was the international break and were you able to try and reset from it?
Good, I am looking forward to it, I am hoping they are all fresh. A lot of the boys who didn’t go, they’ve had a couple of days off and we’ve been able to work over a period as well. The boys who have been on international duty, hopefully, they come back with confidence and come back in good shape, which they have done and we will look forward to the game.
What is the focus now after reflecting on a slow start to the season?
We want to win the games. I think there’s a lot of things which we can do much better and we are working to do that, but I also think there’s a lot of things we have done pretty well and maybe not quite got the rewards our efforts maybe should have got. Ultimately, there’s a lot of things that we think we are doing quite well and we want to try and continue that way.
How do you feel going into the meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers?
We’ve now got three games coming up at home and we’ve got one away in Europe. We’re looking forward getting back to the London Stadium, we missed a game against Newcastle. I think we are ready, I think we are in good spirits and I think the players are in good form, so hopefully, we will be ready to go.
How excited are you that Mark Noble is returning to the club as sporting director in January?
I always wanted Mark to be a part of the club and I think West Ham United should be pleased to have Mark Noble as part of the club as well because he’s a great ambassador, he’s been a great player and we hope that he’ll go on to be a very good working sporting director. You’ve got to remember, Mark is only new, so we have got to give him time to train up to be a sporting director, he’s only just had a little bit of time out from being a player. He’s got a bit of work to do, a bit of training to do but I’m really looking forward to working with him. I’ve been in touch and I’ve been on the phone to him in the last few days as well, so we will look forward to him starting.
You felt a couple of players let you down after the Everton game, is that something you have addressed and spoken about?
I don’t think any of my players have ever let me down, I don’t think I’ve ever used those words. I may have said I was disappointed with some of the players who performed before, but none of the players here have ever let me down. They are really good players, great lads. I think that they’ve done a great job here over the two years.
West Ham and Wolves both go into the game on a poor run despite success in recent seasons, what do you put that down to?
I think if you look back probably a couple of years and said West Ham had gone as far up the table, I think you would have said that’s really good and probably punching above our weight. I think since we’ve been there, I actually feel as if we are quite comfortable here, we want to challenge and we want to stay there. Our work and what we are doing is to maintain that position. Obviously we got off to as good a start as we wanted, but there’s also been some reasons behind that. I think we’ve played more games than any other Premier League team this season and I think in five of those games, we’ve only had two days recovery. If you put all of those things in, we started the season with only one fit centre-back and we’re also trying to integrate seven or eight new players. All of those things I hope would give me a decent reason. But ultimately, I am judged on results and I know that the results have got to get better.
How difficult is it to integrate the eight signings while maintaining your previous success?
We were always going to make a change, this was always going to be a new season for us. I remember when I came in, I was talking about the growth and how we are growing the club and we are, we are continuing to grow the club and just now and again, you have to break things to try and grow it. We feel at the moment, we’ve had to break it a little bit but the players who are here, we have still got a big chunk of the players who have been involved over the last couple of years and played ever so well, but we are now integrating other players into that as well.
What does Diego Costa’s arrival bring to Wolves?
You might know as much as me because we’ve not seen as much of Diego Costa in the last couple of years. Obviously, he had a terrific season or two in the Premier League, scored goals, was a handful for whoever he played against, has got a great reputation as a footballer but I don’t know enough about Diego Costa at this present time to really comment on it.
How long will it be before you look to use Gianluca Scamacca more regularly from the start?
Well, he played against Aston Villa. I think everybody forgets he had a really bad virus for two or three weeks, which was the reason why he hadn’t played him, it wasn’t that we weren’t playing him. We’ve had to bring him back from that and sometimes, those things go a miss. We think a lot of him, we really like him, he’s coming on well. I’m sure as long as he stays fit and healthy, we will see a lot more of him.
You have only scored three goals in the Premier League this season, how do you go about putting that right?
You’re right, we’ve not scored enough goals. Hit woodwork six times, that doesn’t get you a goal, but it tells you that you are getting close to goals and maybe on another day, you get it. We’ve had a couple of penalties, we’ve missed one as well, so there is another little bit of goals that we have just not taken. From that point of view, I think we’ve created some chances, not as many and not enough as we really want, but we have created chances. Actually, in most of the games, our xG, if you look at that at the moment, has probably been more than our tally that we’ve got. It is probably more about taking the opportunities we get and trying to get in front in the games. We’ve not been in front enough in games this season.
Do you have to change something in training to do that or do you feel already that you are getting closer?
Every football manager I know works continuously on finishing, scoring goals, taking your chances, all of the actions that get you goals. We are no different to the rest and we are continuing to work as we have always done. We could just do with some of our top goal scorers coming up with some of the goals. Let’s be fair, we weren’t absolutely prolific from January onwards last year. We got goals, we got important goals, Jarrod Bowen stepped up greatly last year when maybe Mick [Michail Antonio] hadn’t scored as many. We need that to happen again, we need people to step up and get us goals.
Is Jarrod Bowen frustrated at the moment not to open his goal account for the Premier League season?
I don’t think he is frustrated. I just think he wants to score more goals and play well. He is doing everything he can to do that. We really like him. He is a hugely valuable player to us and one we like a lot.
When does your current form become a concern?
We know what happens when you don’t win games. That’s part of the job. I accept that. I think we have done a lot of good things, a couple of things haven’t gone so well for us but I won’t use that as any excuse at all. I am looking for good reasons to try and play well, good reasons to play better if we can do, there a lot of reasons. There are a lot of things we need to do much better, but it comes with the territory. I have had over 1,000 games or so as a football manager and six months ago we were semi-final of Europe and challenging for the top four, top five. It can change quickly. We have come quite a long way in a short distance for West Ham as well.
Do you feel like you are under less pressure currently because of your prior achievements here, experience and the summer investment?
In this industry we are in you are never too far away if you get it wrong, but we are part of it. We have worked really hard to try to and improve West Ham. The club have been brilliant to me, they really have been and continue to be brilliant. They are very solid and know what we are trying to do and know we have brought in quite a few new players. they have been very good in the money they have invested. What they want to see and what everyone wants to see is results and at the moment we have not started as well as we should have or could have. We will try to make that much better.
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