David Moyes as West Ham Manager| FM20 Experiment

January 6, 2020 Luke Hume Comments 1 Comment

After just a season and half, Manuel Pellergini was fired as the West Ham United manager in December 2019, due to poor form and The Hammers slipping down the league table. On the 29th December 2019, the manager that Pellergini succeeded then replaced him as David Moyes returned to Stratford on an 18 month contract.

Moyes is best known for his spell at Everton where he spent thirteen seasons and led them to European football. He was unable to win a trophy. Arguably, his most successful signing ever was Australian, Tim Cahill. Following the 2012-13 season, Moyes announced he would be replacing the retiring Sir Alex Ferguson as the manager of then league champions Manchester United.
Things started well for Moyes as he won his first trophy in the 2013 Community Shield. However,this wouldn’t last and Moyes spent just seven months in the hot seat in Manchester before being sacked and replaced by Ryan Giggs with four games remaining.

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Back into the game

After a break from the game, Moyes returned to management but in Spain with Real Sociedad, where he spent just under a year. Less than a year later, he was appointed Sunderland where things didn’t go well at all as the Black Cats were relegated in April 2017. Moyes resigned the next month. His spell at the Black Cats is arguably best remembered for the controversy he caused after telling a female BBC reporter “you might still get a slap even though you’re a woman.”

In this Football Manager 2020 experiment we will see how Football Manager thinks Moyes will do back at the London Stadium. We will look at his tactics, results, competitions, and transfers. This was a major criticism point of Moyes by Everton fans during his time in Merseyside.

As you can see above, I have given David a two year contract expiring on the 30/6/2021 on a wage of $2.73m p/a. He has a fairly professional personality. He tends to use zonal marking. Fits players into his preferred tactics and doesnt work around them. His preferred tactic is a 5-2-2-1 and his style is direct.

October 2019

In October 2019, after eight games played, West Ham sit eleventh in the table. They have a record of 4-4-2 and goal difference of 0. They have 10 points. The Hammers also won in both the the cup rounds. Beating Colchester 3-0 in the first round and Tranmere 3-1 in the second.

Moyes has been playing his preferred 5-2-2-1 tactic on a balanced mentality.

February 2020

After the January transfer window, The Hammers currently sit eighth in the Premier League. Just three points off Europa League spots. They have a record of 11-5-8 but also have a minus goal difference of 1.

As you can see above, the form of the club in December was very good losing just two games. However form in January has been bit more mixed, losing three games, drawing one and winning two. West Ham also reached the Quarter Finals of the Carabao Cup before being knocked out by Liverpool by a score of two to one.

Transfers

Moyes made two signings in January, signing Francisco Sierralta from Udinese for $5.25m, and Jack Scott from Wolves, for $2.6m. There were no major outgoings for the Hammers apart from youngsters going out on loan.

End of Season One

David Moyes first season back at the London Stadium finished with a ninth place Premier League finish, two places above their media prediction of 11th. They finished with a record of 14-9-15. The Hammers have scored 42 goals, conceding 48 in the process. They finished negative goal difference of six. They amassed 51 points, finishing 6 off seventh place. The club finished one position better than the 2018-19 season under Pellerigni

Key Players

The key players for the Hammrs this season were Declan Rice, playing 41, followed by Arthur Masuakau on 39 and Fabianski on 39. The top goalscorers for the London side was Yarmolenko with 15 followed by Anderson with seven.

Season Two – November

Season Two is well underway and The Hammers currently sit 12th in the Premier League after 13 games played with a record of 4-4-5. They have a goal diffrence of minus 8, and have got 15 points on the board. They are one place worse off compared to November last year.

Moyes made many signings including Eric Dier for 16.5 million, Kyle Walker Peters for 9.5m and Carlos Salcedo from Tigres for 11m. In total he spent $76m. On the outgoings – Winston Reid moved to Basel for 8.75m and Jordan Hughill moved to Aston Villa.

Moyes Sacked!

David Moyes is no longer the West Ham boss after a year and half at the London Stadium. Moyes was sacked by the board on the 5th December 2019, they were 15th at the time – they still are.

This FM20 experiment believes David Moyes will last a year and half at the London Stadium before being handed his P45 by Gold and Sullivan. What do you think? Let us know on one of our socials below:

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