Premier League winners and losers: Harry Kane sets more records
By Ty Finch
Winner: David Moyes
Similar to Sam Allardyce, yet in a profoundly different situation now, folks may have been too quick to judge West Ham for hiring David Moyes after sacking Slaven Bilic in November.
Moyes lost three of his first four matches in charge of West Ham, but has turned their fortunes around recently. They’ve only lost once since then, including taking five points off Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. Gone are the narratives about Marko Arnautovic being a bad buy, Moyes’ past failures and West Ham being relegation fodder.
The Hammers beat Huddersfield 4-1 on Saturday, and Moyes’ tactics were the main reason why. He played Arnautovic as the lone striker to make up for his lackadaisical defensive tendencies and has been rewarded with nine goals or assists in his last seven appearances from the Austrian. The switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation has also revived Manuel Lanzini’s West Ham career, as he has two goals and three assists in his last five matches.
Most of all, Moyes has made West Ham more efficient both on the ball and off. Against Huddersfield, the Hammers only had 38 percent of possession, attempted 255 fewer passes than their counterparts and scored on four of their six shots on target. It’s hard to be more productive with less than that.
West Ham are no longer in the relegation battle, and that alone is enough to praise Moyes. The Hammers’ supporters were in legitimate fear of a battle at the bottom if Bilic was kept in charge, but that has all but evaporated under the new manager.