West Ham United boss David Moyes wants to see Flynn Downes start ‘expanding his game’ at the London Stadium. But the Scot is mostly pleased with his summer signing’s progress.
Downes has struggled to earn much game time since leaving Swansea City for east London in July. The Hammers paid the Jacks £12m for the 23-year-old, who signed a five-year deal. But Moyes has only unleashed the former England U20 prospect for 298 minutes to date.
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Just two of those minutes have come during Premier League fixtures after featuring during stoppage time on two occasions. Downes enjoyed his West Ham debut on the opening day at home to Manchester City. But he did not feature again until against Fulham last Sunday.
Instead, Moyes has afforded Downes regular chances to impress during West Ham’s ties in the Europa Conference League. He featured for 28 minutes across the Irons’ qualifying ties against Viborg. The Brentwood-born gem has since started three games in the group stage.
Downes only somewhat impressed Moyes as West Ham beat Anderlecht
Downes enjoyed the full 90 minutes during his third start in claret-and-blue as West Ham beat Anderlecht 2-1 on Thursday. But the midfielder only somewhat impressed Moyes in the Group B meeting at the London Stadium. The Irons boss still sees room for him to develop.
Moyes feels Downes’ progress since joining West Ham is ‘going exactly the way you want it’. The Scot initially felt the midfielder ‘started slow’ and still has some areas of his game to improve. But he is generally pleased with what the Ipswich Town product is producing.
“It takes time and if everybody wants to see people right away, they’ve got to trust the manager,” Moyes told football.london. “The manager is seeing it and doing the right thing and my experience will tell me. Flynn has done very well in the two games.
“Bits of last night, very good. Bits of it, he has to do better. He needs to start expanding his game as a midfield player. But he’s got a lot of good things going for him. I’ll bring him on at the right speed and the right time. But I’ve been pleased with what he’s been doing.”
Downes formed a solid partnership with Manuel Lanzini as West Ham’s holding midfielders against Anderlecht during his latest start under Moyes. His passing was often crisp, played the ball into the final-third well, made a number of tackles and read the game promisingly.
Yet a real breakthrough in the Premier League is unlikely to be on the cards anytime soon. Moyes will likely keep Downes developing behind the scenes and in West Ham’s final two Conference League group stage games. But his involvement in the league should increase.
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