David Moyes is now set to leave his post at West Ham United, having managed his last game for us.
Julen Lopetegui is the man tasked with replacing David Moyes at West Ham, and the Spaniard apparently has the ambition to take us on into the Champions League.
Moyes oversaw some real progress at the London Stadium over the past four-and-a-half years, having taken us from a team threatened by relegation on to three successive European campaigns.
The Scot also helped us end our 43-year wait for a major trophy out in Prague last summer, and for that he will never be forgotten.
However, Moyes has clear and obvious limitations. His desire for a small squad is not conducive to achieving success on all fronts in the modern game.
The 61-year-old implements a really poor style of football that is reliant on moments of brilliance from his players. There are no patterns of play in a Moyes system, and watching our players to give up possession for 60-70% of the game has just become so tiresome now.
It’s no surprise to me that Moyes will be working for talkSPORT in the summer, rather than another Premier League club.
West Ham confirmed earlier this month via their official website that Moyes will leave the London Stadium this summer ‘by mutual consent’.
However, I firmly believe that that was not the case. I’m of the opinion that Moyes was told he would not be getting a new deal.
And there was one major contributing factor behind that decision from the owners…
The real reason why David Moyes was told to leave West Ham
The Scot took charge of his last game for the Hammers during our 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad.
The Scot has actually suggested that he’d be open to a third spell at West Ham but for now, Lopetegui will be the man to guide us on through the next stage of our development.
The way that the Hammers fell away during the second half of the season really is such a shame.
After beating Arsenal on December 28th, we were sitting pretty in sixth spot in the table, just five points adrift of the Champions League places, with a game in hand.
However, we folded like a cheap suit from January to May, winning just five games in all competitions.
And I believe there was one key incident that made the Hammers board wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to Moyes’s ability to guide us on into a new era of success…
Moyes’s West Ham exit is his own fault
Moyes pushed really hard to bring Kalvin Phillips to the London Stadium in the January transfer window – a deal that Tim Steidten really wasn’t keen on at all.
The loan deal for the 28-year-old turned out to be a complete unmitigated disaster. He endured a torrid time at West Ham, playing just 319 minutes of football for us (Transfermarkt).
The Englishman was at fault for numerous goals we conceded since the end of January – Bournemouth at home and Manchester United away spring to mind.
Phillips got sent off away at Nottingham Forest and gave away a penalty at a crucial time up at St James’ Park in March.
One talkSPORT pundit even suggested that he should personally refund the Hammers after ‘sabotaging’ our season.
Moyes desperately needed to sign a versatile attacker and a solid centre-back in January, but instead he stubbornly pursued a deal for Phillips – someone who had barely played during the first half of the season.
It ended up being a terrible deal for the club, both on and off the pitch, and I’m convinced it was that bit of business that made the board question the Scot’s transfer acumen.
As far as I’m concerned, David Moyes was told to leave West Ham. I just can’t envisage a scenario whereby his exit from the club would have been a mutual decision.
Now we are all waiting with bated breath to see what Lopetegui has in store for us. Let’s hope the Spaniard brings the glory days back to the East End.
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