David Moyes defends West Ham United team selection after Europa League defeat to Olympiacos
David Moyes has defended his West Ham United team selection in the Hammers’ Europa League defeat to Olympiacos on Thursday 26 October.
The Hammers boss made seven changes to the side that lost to Aston Villa in the Premier League for Thursday night’s 2-1 defeat, with the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio all starting from the bench in Greece.
But the fringe players selected to deputise struggled to have the desired impact, resulting in the former Manchester United boss making a triple change after 58 minutes in an attempt to salvage the Irons’ 17-match unbeaten run in Europe. However, Moyes has insisted that he didn’t make a mistake with the team selection.
As quoted by the Evening Standard (26 October) he said: “I’m disappointed with the team in the first half, not just the players I’ve brought in. Our record in the Europa League and the Conference League has been very good and we’ve changed players quite regularly for two years now. It’s not something new or something we haven’t done.
“If there was criticism for it tonight then there should be praise for the 17 games we did it prior to it. We’ve had a good record. We’re trying to keep everybody involved.
“I want to have a good squad, a strong squad, with everybody ready to play so I want to give everybody an opportunity when I can and we’ve done that tonight.”
Method to the madness
It is fair to say that Moyes has used the European competitions in the past to rest and rotate his squad to ensure that everybody is fighting fit and ready to compete for a place in his first team squad, but the seven changes he made in Greece really upset the balance of his side.
Tomas Soucek was forced into an unfamiliar role in defensive midfield, limiting his ability to get into the box, one of his best characteristics, while Danny Ings struggled to get involved in the match as he was left isolated by his other attacking teammates.
Neither Pablo Fornals nor Said Benrahma looked to be up to speed and while Mohammed Kudus tried his best to influence proceedings, the Ghanaian winger had limited opportunities to get on the ball and influence the match as supporters know he can.
Fortunately, West Ham’s good start in the Europa League means that they still top the group and appear to be in an excellent position to qualify. But given the recent poor form, Thursday night’s clash may have been the perfect opportunity to get the first-choice squad back to winning ways.
