West Ham United manager David Moyes is convinced his side are close to finding their best form again.
The Hammers might have suffered narrow 1-0 losses on the load to both Liverpool and Sevilla in the past week, but ahead of this afternoon’s home meeting with Aston Villa, there were signs of real encouragement in both performances.
Moyes’ men got into good positions in both contests – making 28 penalty area entries to Sevilla’s 29 on Thursday – but were unable to find that killer touch.
The boss says locating that final moment once again will be key to turning their threatening displays into results, and he is confident it will come.
“I think Mick [Antonio] scoring goals is really important for the team and for him, but you know we’ve been pretty good with other people stepping up and scoring goals.
“Micky is not just a goalscorer for us – he is someone who leads the line, takes the weight off the other players and creates a lot of chances for them.
“It’s been a tough period for him because he started the season so well and played so well at the end of last season. I think we just need to keep supporting him. I’m hoping the goals flow in the last ten games of the season but I think his performances have improved recently.
“Good performances tend lead to goals so I’m hoping Mick keeps up his performance levels.”
Moyes is also sure his creators will return to their top levels as the season nears its conclusion, naming Saïd Benrahma as a possible difference maker.
“Saïd has shown exactly what he can do,” he continued. “He showed it in the early part of the season and he showed great improvement coming back because I think his first season was quite difficult and at the start of this year he was in really good form.
“The same things still apply – make the right decision, choose the right pass, at the right moment take the decision to take somebody on or retain possession. He’s important to us because he can make the difference. He’s a talented player and we need those kind of players to make a difference to get us over the line.
“Recently we’ve lost narrowly at Liverpool 1-0, narrowly at Sevilla 1-0 and I think if you look back at the games you’d say we were certainly worthy of a goal or two in both of them.”
