“We have examined our goals at the start of the season in terms of where we thought we would be – and our strong feeling is that we can put them in the bin. We have a different set now. “
David Moyes laughs as he tells Sky Sports about how West Ham have exceeded their expectations this season.
Wednesday’s impressive 3-1 win at Aston Villa gives them fifth place in the Premier League, just a point or two behind defending Liverpool.
The total of 38 points from 22 games is their best result at this stage of the high-flying season for 35 years and they will be awarded until they are eight winners out of their last nine when they go to Craven Cottage on Saturday.
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FREE TO LIFE: A selection from West Ham’s win against Aston Villa in the Premier League
It’s a dramatic transformation from last season’s relegation rush and credit to Moyes for unlocking the potential of these West Ham players – with the help of some key additions in the market movement.
“I think our players are not yet fully aware of what they are capable of,” said Moyes, ahead of the final training session before they face Fulham. “I think there is more to come – and because of that it gives me great joy that we can be better again.
“We need to keep in good shape, stay injury-free and all that will hinder teams or put you off line a bit. If we can get through that I think we have a really good chance of trying to hang in there.
“If you had given us the top of the league before the start of the season I think we would all have shaken your hand and said ‘thank you’. But we just have to see where it goes. We’re out of here. “
Jesse Lingard’s two-goal dream debate at Villa Park was the latest in an increasingly impressive season for the east side of London.
Aside from the opening day’s loss to Newcastle, their other five Premier League blows have come only against traditional depression (twice), Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea and in the midweek win. that there was further evidence that West Ham are putting some fine on the play force that brought them out of trouble last season.
A mix of Lingard, Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek tied in attractive fashion for all three of their goals and there are promising signs of more creativity in open play to go with their set skills.
West Ham have conceded 12 goals this season and conceded just two. They are the best figures in every division in the Premier League. But Lingard is embracing a shift in approach in ownership.
“His tie play, his control … gave us a little more confidence on the ball,” said Moyes from the Manchester United loanee. “I think it helped a lot of players around the development as well, they were able to find, get the ball.
“He got himself in a few shooting positions and I think if we can continue to get into some good offensive positions then hopefully he can come up with the product for us and for some of goals.
“We always want to make sure we have the ability to defend set pieces – because if you don’t you will be in trouble. But that was not the reason for Tomas Soucek’s signing. The reason for signing with which he scored goals and his ability to become a midfielder, although it clearly helps with his image.
“But we also have talented little players and we need them to be creative. I felt Jesse would give us one more. We brought in Said, we brought in Jarrod Bowen, and Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini is there who is all doing very well.
“I felt we needed to keep adding to that so that we could compete for places and when we need something different I have something to call. “
Tactical flexibility
Another element of Aston Villa’s West Ham performance is the use of two well-known backs in Ryan Fredericks and Vladimir Coufal in the starting XI. He caught his eye on social media at first but, with Fredericks playing a more positive role on the sidelines and then being able to help Coufal deal with Jack Grealish – which he did impressively – was a move which he paid.
That tactical flexibility, which has also seen West Ham alternate between three and four defenses this season, is another sign of their development under Moyes.
“I don’t think we are at a stage yet where we can say that this is our team and this is what we will do,” explained Moyes. “We are still on a journey by play against very good teams and try to address many of their strengths.
“But the flexibility – I said right at the start of the season we may be playing four at the back, we may be playing five at the back in different situations and it looks like is true.
“I think there is a lot more flexibility in the Premier League in general with teams and Fredericks gave us the opportunity to play as a wide right player and help us in different ways and it did not disappoint.
“That’s what you need from your squad, to know you have players coming in and doing different jobs.”
Thinking in the long run
Moyes spoke of his ambition to create a new ‘West Ham’ earlier in the week and change his mind at the club. Although his contract will only run until the summer, Hammers’ good first half of the season has given Moyes and the club a chance to think about a longer view. The game is a rare luxury.
“Twice when I’ve been to West Ham, it’s always short-lived,” Moyes said. “Even when we came in last January, we had to bring in Soucek, we got Bowen in and they made a big difference to the team and the club.
“I think there is an element of short-term in the work of every manager and all the time depends on where your work is. We are just for the first time able to breathe take some air as we found ourselves, I would not say away from relegation but it seems.
“But with that comes another expectation of ‘how high can you go, what can you do?’
“We’re breathing in a variety of skies because we want to try and challenge the top boys – but we have to keep going.
“If I can do a step of the same size next year it would be far beyond credit because most of the time now it will be the small, small improvements as you try to catch up with the big teams. It’s very difficult to take big steps. “
The next steps
So what are the next steps on the path to becoming the new ‘West Ham’?
“The first thing is to build on where we are,” Moyes said. “We hope to have another transfer window in the summer to try and step back. But the big thing is that we keep the consistency going, try to be a stable team that has some identity about how we play and continue to play in the right way.
“We don’t always play well but we want to try to build on what we do. My idea was to pick up one or two players while we go ahead to see if we can keep developing the squad and this team. “
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David Moyes will look to sign Jesse Lingard permanently if he keeps his impressive start to his life at West Ham
Along with that long-term view, Moyes needs to keep focusing on the game-to-match, though – and the next Premier League test will come quickly at Fulham this weekend, with the then their FA Cup tie with Manchester United on Tuesday.
Moyes can at least call on some good experiences about facing Fulham. He has beaten them more times than any other manager.
“My biggest memory against them is my first game as Everton manager – and we scored after 25 seconds, David Unsworth! That’s the kind of thing you remember,” Moyes laughed, before making it to that training session. The work to build West Ham into the regular highs that his Everton team has come up with.