West Ham manager David Moyes has seen his squad pick up a number of injuries in the past couple of weeks, with Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna, Andriy Yarmolenko, and Michail Antonio all suffering various ailments.
Despite the number of injuries and the fixture congestion, his club have faced Moyes is hoping for more of the same next season, at least on the scheduling front anyway:
“Prior to the game against Manchester United, the players and the staff had had no days off for about the full month since January 3, so it’s been an incredible run just because of games,” Moyes said.
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“But in a strange way, I hope in the future that’s the way it’s going to be and I’m going to talk about European games or something else because we’ve got game after game, and we’ll have to get used to that I hope.
“But at the moment, the last month or two has been fruitful for us and it’s shown that we can cope with a game on a Saturday and Tuesday at this moment in time.”
West Ham have been in fine form since the festive period losing just twice in their previous 12 matches and one of those was only after Manchester United got an extra-time winner in the FA Cup.
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As Moyes pointed out in a ‘normal year’ West Ham would have brought the Red Devils back to the London Stadium for a replay, as it is the Hammers exited the FA Cup and now have just 15 games left this season.
A win against Sheffield United on Monday evening would see Moyes’ men leapfrog Chelsea and champions Liverpool into the top-four positions. The boss knows the fans are hoping for European football next season and it is something he desires as well:
“I want West Ham involved with the big boys in Europe. I’m not sure if we are ready but it would be a humongous step if we even get close. It would be enormous.”
Moyes added, “I think we are capable, but can we do it is another thing.”
Declan Rice of West Ham runs with the ball during The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Manchester United and West Ham (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
European football next season would also bring challenges as well as prestige though:
“The Europa League has always been difficult with the Thursday/Sunday situation for any club. I remember the first year I was in it with Everton we were terrible and we got knocked out straight away.
“But once you get used to it and start to get a run in it – we lost to Fiorentina in the quarter-finals on penalty kicks one year – you get experience,” he said.
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Losing in the cup was disappointing as were the injuries the team picked up. One positive, however, was that West Ham have only the league to concentrate on, something many of the Hammers’ European rivals cannot do:
“There have been a number of injuries in the Premier League games in recent weeks. I think we’re seeing a lot in this period.
“Who knows what it will be like for the teams in Europe because they’ve got to go Saturday to Tuesday again. Maybe their squads are bigger but I would see that as being a big challenge for those teams who are trying to remain in the Cups and Champions League.
“I’m hoping that might give us a little bit of an edge having time to recover between games.”
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After the visit of the league’s bottom clubs, West Ham face a tough run of fixtures with London derbies coming against Tottenham and Arsenal and visits to both Manchester clubs before the end of next month.
“We are in a period of a tough run of games which we had at the start of the season which turned out to be fruitful for us and we got some good results and points. So if we can come out of this period with a similar points total to what we did then, then we will be in a really good position,” said Moyes.
“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t, the games are hard and we’ll have to work hard but I think maybe others are getting a bit more aware of West Ham and what we are doing than they were right at the start of the season.”
