Former England and Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has warned West Ham United manager David Moyes must get his side talking on the pitch rather than off it after his recent comments.
Following the Hammers’ 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Boxing Day, Moyes has confidently said that fortunes will turn soon, despite West Ham sitting 16th and just a point clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone after losing ten of their opening 16 league matches this term.
Despite Moyes’ optimism, Agbonlahor, whose career saw him play 391 times for Villa and win three caps for his country between 2005 and 2018, believes that West Ham fans will soon turn on the Scot if his side’s performances do not match the optimism he regularly expresses after a poor run of form that makes them the most out of form team in the division at present.
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“Fans don’t want to hear that. Fans will be like, ‘We don’t want to hear that, show us on the pitch,’” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT .
“Words don’t mean anything. You’ve been poor now for six games, poor against Arsenal, they battered them second half. Fans will be getting frustrated. Friday they play Brentford at home. If that isn’t going according to plan and Brentford get the first goal that crowd will turn.
“When they first moved to that stadium the fanbase was still against the team but they’ve had a good couple of years where everyone’s happy and the fans are on side. They can be vicious, that fanbase, when it’s not going right.Brentford are not the team you want to be playing at home when you need a result because they looked very good against Spurs.”
Moyes is not the only one remaining hopeful of an imminent return to winning ways, with Hammers captain Declan Rice also tipping West Ham to get their season back on track.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s London derby with Brentford, Rice is confident that they can beat the Bees to start a run of form.
"It’s just the results and it’s a tough one because there’s been games we’ve played unbelievably well and not got the results," Rice told Amazon Prime Sport . "Tonight we’ve not played the best and not gotten the result, we have created chances in the other matches but not putting the ball in the back of the net, in the Premier League that’s the most important thing.
"There’s a gap arriving in the league and we’re in the bottom half, for sure the tables will turn and we’ll get up there but it’s a little bump at the moment, we’re positive and believe we can beat Brentford on Friday."
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