Tony Cottee believes West Ham have added pressure on themselves this season after overachieving in recent years under David Moyes.
After a sixth-placed finish in 2020/21, the Hammers finished seventh in the Premier League last term, picking up memorable wins against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea along the way.
They also topped their Europa League group and victories against six-time winners Sevilla and French side Olympique Lyonnais, before a semi-final defeat against eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt, made the 2021/22 campaign one to remember.
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However, Cottee believes that the recent success under Moyes may be playing some part in West Ham’s disappointing start so far this campaign. Just one win in seven games has left them in a concerning position in the Premier League, with the club currently 18th in the table.
Four wins out of four in the Europa Conference League has been a positive, but Cottee has no doubts that Moyes is the man who can turn around their poor start domestically. “It’s been a slow start to the season and I don’t see alarm bells ringing but it is a cause for concern,” the former West Ham striker told Cheeky Punter.
“I’m a West Ham fan, I go to the games and follow them. The problem [David] Moyes has got is that they have overachieved and when you do that it puts pressure on because fans expect it to happen again.
“To finish sixth and seventh and get to a Europa League semi-final is a great achievement, two great years and now a slow start. So straight away there’s pressure on the manager and there’s also been a lot of changes at the club. I’m not surprised, let’s put it that way. But in my opinion, Moyes is the right man for the job.”
Moyes is currently managing his third full season in charge of West Ham during his second stint with the club. After taking over an Irons side languishing in 17th in December 2019, the Scot managed to keep the Hammers above the drop zone and has since transformed them into a top ten side.
No doubt Moyes has credit in the bank because of that, but Cottee points at the troubles Leicester City manager Brendon Rodgers is facing at the moment to highlight how quickly the tide can turn. When asked if there was any worry over Moyes’ future, Cottee said: “There shouldn’t be but this is the modern game.
"Look at poor old Brendan Rodgers, he nearly got in the Champions League, he’s won the FA Cup with Leicester and he loses six games and he’s in huge trouble. West Ham haven’t lost six games on the trot but it’s been a very slow start.
“But the [Europa] Conference League, two great results, two victories. What would you want to do, play great football and lose 4-3 and everyone comes away and says ‘what a great game but we lost’ you know? It’s a results business in football.
“So as good as the results have been in that competition, in the Premier League they haven’t been good enough. It’s only seven games though and what Moyes has achieved over the last few years, he has earned the time to get it right and bed in the new players.
“They did it four years ago at West Ham, they brought in a lot of new faces and unsurprisingly it caused upset in the dressing room. But Moyes deserves time in my opinion.”
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