Mark Lawrenson has told Off the Ball that David Moyes told his West ham players, after the controversial Tomas Soucek incident, that they should ‘just aim for Europe’.
The BBC pundit, who is a close friend of the Scotsman’s, shared that Moyes had also told his West Ham players that ‘if we fall short’ in finishing in the top-seven then they ‘fall short’ but ‘we will still be in a very good position’.
And that’s where West Ham currently are. At this moment in time, they are sandwiched between Chelsea and Everton in sixth place.
Nonetheless, Lawrenson shared what Moyes told him about the Hammers aiming for Europe.
“I spoke to him after Soucek got sent off,” said Lawrenson. “And he is just saying to the players ‘Let’s aim for Europe in terms of the league. If we fall a bit short, we fall a bit short, but we will still be in a very good position’.
“The thing with Moyes is that he is the type of manager that just needs time. And I know you don’t necessarily get time in the Premier League.
“He has said that ‘the players have been excellent’ and ‘they have all brought into what they are trying to do’. He said the very first thing he was trying to do was make them difficult to beat, which they have done.”
At the start of the season, not even the most ardent of West Ham supporters would have thought that they would be in such a situation.
But here they are and the expectations will now hit the roof from now until the end of the season.
A certain Michail Antonio, who missed their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday, is going to key in how far up they finish in the Premier League table.
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