Ever since his appointment as West Ham United manager in late December, it has been a real whirlwind for David Moyes.
Seven games in a manic January, a transfer window to negotiate and a Hammers squad to assess means Moyes has barely had time to take stock since taking the reins at London Stadium.
The Scot was therefore grateful to have a full week on the training pitches at Rush Green ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester City, following January’s glut of midweek matches.
Moyes has used the time to continue the process of getting his methods across to the squad, as new arrivals Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen integrate in the group, and despite a tough run of matches following the City clash, he is confident the work will soon yield results.
“This is our first week on the grass,” he explained. “Since we’ve come in, it’s been play, recovery, prepare. Play, recovery, prepare.
“This is the first week we’ve had any time and we’ve needed it. It’s probably the first chance we’ve had to work, to get to really know the players and for them to get to know me.
“When you come in, you realise we’re short in numbers in midfield [so we signed Soucek], or we needed another goalkeeper – those sort of things were automatically done, but the big job is to work and make the players that we’ve got the best we can.
“Ultimately, my vision is focused towards the end of the season totally, because if you look at the next few games it might not be as easy to see it, but if you look at the end of the season you’ll see it getting much better.
“The players know exactly that the position we’re in is not a great position and it’s not what is expected, but we are there and we have to work our way out of it.
“We have to do the correct things, better things than we have been doing and keep confidence up between now and the end of the season to pick up the points required.”
The Hammers defeated Chelsea at London Stadium in Moyes’ first spell as manager – and they have beaten the Blues and Manchester United this term – so he knows they have the capability to get results against the teams at the top end of the Premier League table.
The boss is determined to pick up another result of that type, but is equally aware that his team need to add a steely edge to their game.
“We have to win [one of these games],” he added. “West Ham have got that in their DNA, I think it’s in the club’s DNA and I hope we can show that somewhere along the line.
“What we have to take out of our DNA is not winning when we’re in front. That’s what needs to change.
“It can only happen with a little bit of persistence, and continuity, that we can get away from that. I need to change the DNA of those up-and-down seasons and up-and-down results.
“There will always be some games in the season where it doesn’t go right, but we need to pick up a Chelsea win, or we need to pick up a Liverpool win.
“We need do something along the journey, and if not you know we’ll have to win all the games we’re expected to win and that’s not easy. What comes from that is added pressure.”
