David Moyes has hit back at his West Ham critics, warning only a lucrative takeover by a nation state could have the club competing at a higher level than they are now.
The Irons boss came under heavy fire for his team selection in the deflating Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool on Wednesday night, where a much-weakened lineup was thrashed 5-1 by Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Though that result has somewhat soured the mood in east London, however, the Hammers head towards Christmas inside the Premier League’s top-eight and already through to the last-16 of the Europa League.
Next week will mark the fourth anniversary of Moyes's return to the club and offer what he believes will be a timely reminder of the progress made during his second spell in charge, which began with a desperate fight to avoid the drop at the back end of the 2019/20 season.
“I genuinely think we’ve had an amazing three, four years,” Moyes said. “Avoiding relegation, I remember that, [Andriy] Yarmolenko scores the goal against Chelsea which we win 3-2 at home. We won 4-0, when Micky [Antonio] scored the four goals at Norwich which made us safe.
“We’re now talking about quarter-finals of cups, semi-finals of cups, winning a cup, trying to challenge to be in Europe through your league position, made it to Europe through your league position twice.
“I don’t know how, genuinely, it gets an awful lot better without us getting absolute trillions from somewhere else where we can buy success. I don’t see where it’s getting much better.”
Last season’s Europa Conference League triumph saw Moyes become the first West Ham manager in 43 years to lift a major trophy and also ensured a third-straight season in Uefa competition.
The Hammers struggled on the domestic front, fighting relegation until late in the campaign, but have returned to form this term as Moyes looks to replicate the top-seven finishes of the previous two campaigns.
“The big thing for any football manager is to raise expectations,” he added. “We have done. We’ve raised expectations greatly, winning a cup competition, certainly being in Europe third year in a row.”
Despite the objective successes of Moyes’s reign, however, some fans remain critical over the style of football on display at the London Stadium and the manager’s future is up in the air as he prepares to enter the final six months of his contract.
“A lot of the things I am doing at West Ham, I see going in the right direction,” he said. “But we’re in a world now where people want things to be better quickly and I’m finding that hard to see, unless a country comes to give you the finances which is required. I just don’t see where it is.
"The Premier League is really strong. There is probably only one club above us who has a lesser budget than us in the Premier League at the moment, and that’s Brighton. From that alone, you might think I’m doing as well as I can do, because the budgets of the other clubs are so much greater, whether it’s wages or transfer fees.
"I feel as if I’m having to justify some of those questions. But not many talk about it, so there’s some facts.”
