As the pressure mounted, David Moyes reached out to Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, to offer his support. The West Ham manager has experienced similar circumstances in the past.
After succeeding the departed Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United in the seventh round, Moyes was fired and is currently giving guidance to the current United manager.
The Scot has claimed his fellow boss is in a pressure job and will be expected to win games in a certain style but must be afforded time and trust by the board.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on 4 November, Moyes shared: “It [pressure] has always been directed at managers. That’s why most of the time you talk about managers losing their jobs, not players losing their jobs. It’s part of the job.
“Ultimately if you manage Manchester United, it’s a pressure job and you’re expected to win with a really good style.
“It wouldn’t need me to tell anybody that. But it sounds like he’s getting great support from their board and if you’ve got that you’ve got a great chance of improving results, which gives you more time. Let’s see what happens.
“Erik ten Hag has done a lot of really good things.”
Moyes is under pressure himself
It’s not just Ten Hag who finds himself under pressure as a result of poor league performances. In fact, some of the criticisms levelled at the Manchester United boss are the same as the ones being thrown at Moyes in recent weeks.
The lack of a coherent and effective style of play, disappointing results against teams they realistically should be beating, and strange treatment of the players. If you were to list those points, which boss would you think they were about based on recent events?
Moyes is falling into further criticism after his West Ham side lost to both Everton and Brentford in their last two Premier League games, with the same criticisms being levelled for both.
Strange team selections and an insistence on playing in a certain way despite the talented players at his disposal have led to questions about Moyes’ future.
It was a classy touch to reach out to Ten Hag, but perhaps the boss should look a little bit closer to home.
