David Moyes out? ‘Pragmatism’ to make way for style as West Ham fans spoiled by Paqueta et al

Lucas Paqueta arriving at West Ham was always going to make those greedy fans hungry for more. “Where are the pragmatists?” the pundits ask.

They’ve just watched a weakened team get dumped out of the FA Cup by Bristol City having endured stale football besides. It’s time for the Hammers and David Moyes to shake hands and go their separate ways.

“I don’t know how, genuinely, it gets an awful lot better without us getting absolute trillions from somewhere else where we can buy success. I don’t see where it’s getting much better. We’re in a world now where people want things to be better quickly. I’m finding that hard to see, unless a country comes to give you the finances which is required.”

David Moyes himself is as baffled by West Ham fans’ disgruntlement as Chris Sutton, who thinks they’re being “ridiculous”, Jamie Redknapp, who believes they “don’t give him the respect he deserves”, Rio Ferdinand, who told them to “be careful what you wish for”, and Simon Jordan, who hopes that wish comes true and they land a manager who “plays inspiring football to take them to the bottom of the league”.

On the surface it’s incredible that the widely reported two-and-a-half-year extension to his contract is yet to cross Moyes’ desk. He’s taken a 17th-placed side to European glory, they’re into the knockouts of the Europa League this term and are currently sixth in the Premier League, with the most points they’ve ever accrued at this stage of a season.

They’ve signed Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and James Ward-Prowse under his watch, among the most talented players ever to represent West Ham in the Premier League era. As Moyes said, without a very rich benefactor, it’s “hard to see how it gets better”.

Unless of course you’ve watched them play football. Which – call us old-fashioned – feels like quite an important aspect of the football fan experience. Almost all the pundits defending Moyes, who claim they “don’t understand” the fans’ stance, caveat that disbelief with the one problem that shows they understand entirely: “OK, the football isn’t great, but…” No, no, we’ll stop you there.

“You’ve got to be realistic sometimes,” said Rio. “A realist, a pragmatist,” said Sutton, apparently listing the character traits he values in match-going fans. Ah yes, the 3000 pragmatists who travelled five hours on the Wednesday before Christmas to watch a weakened side get battered 5-1 by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. And where were all the bubble-blowing realists when they were dumped out of the third round of the FA Cup by Bristol City after a replay?

Finishes of 16th, 6th, 7th and 14th under Moyes for the team eighth in the five-year net spend table is about par, and their current Premier League position of sixth arguably says more about how terrible Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle have been than particular excellence on their part.

And while Moyes does indeed deserve credit for a) attracting quality players to the club and b) getting a tune out of those quality players, directors and scouts are presumably due significant hat tips, and it’s hard to appreciate the brilliance of the players without questioning whether the product as a whole shouldn’t be more appealing.

Lucas Paqueta tries to wake up West Ham fans

West Ham rank 16th for shots per 90 minutes (11.19) in the Premier League and 15th for shot-creating actions (19.9). Success comes through their shots and dead-ball delivery being accurate – no team has a better goals per shot score (0.14) and only Liverpool (3.05) create more shot-creating actions from dead-ball situations (2.67), thanks in large part to James Ward-Prowse. They also rank 16th for possession (40.7%), 18th for key passes (8.00), and 17th for progressive carries (13.7).

Moyes has built a very efficient football team that on paper is doing about as well as expected, but off paper is the cause of great frustration for fans who have seen weakened teams fielded in two cup competitions and endured stale football besides, peppered by moments of genius from players they can’t help but feel would be producing more consistently under a more progressive manager.

Moyes has six months left on his current deal and that should be that. Shake hands and go separate ways. He’s brought stability to a club in need, but those needs have changed, and if his assertion that this is as good as it gets on paper is true – and we’re inclined to agree – then a change in style is the only available route to improve the fans’ experience, which they will quite reasonably argue is the whole point.