24 November 2017

PREVIEW // MOYES WARY OF FAMILIAR FOXES THREAT

By Dan McInally

West Ham United should have attacking duo Marko Arnautovic and Andrew Ayew back in the frame for their clash versus Leicester City at London Stadium this Friday.Â

David Moyes will be hoping that his team can bounce back, after the defeat at Watford last weekend during his first game at the helm. The visitors come into the game with a mixed run of form, drawing, winning and losing one of their last three games, the defeat however was against an imperious Manchester City side. There are still some injury headaches for the new Hammers manager, who wonâ€™t be able call upon Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez and James Collins.Â

The tie against Leicester will be Moyesâ€™ first at London Stadium, and the manager is eager to build confidence in front of the home support.Â

"Iâ€™ve been down a couple of times in the week and was there a year ago as manager of Sunderland. Itâ€™s a brilliant stadium and donâ€™t let anybody tell you any different. Itâ€™s going to be the stadium we play in for the next 100 years," said Moyes.

"I watched the game against Chelsea last year and it was one of the best atmospheres I heard in the Premier League last season, if Iâ€™m honest, so itâ€™s possible.

"What we need to do is give the supporters something to shout about because if we give them something to shout about thatâ€™s half-decent then I think they will support us wherever.

"I think West Ham supporters will support their team, no matter what stadium theyâ€™re playing in."

The new man at the helm of the Hammers will face another fresh managerial appointment in Leicester City boss Claude Puel. Still in his infancy in the role at the King Power Stadium, Puel's side have shown so far that even with a new manager, their style of play has the hallmarks of that which saw them romp to the Premier League title in 2015.

Iâ€™ve watched a couple of Leicester City games as weâ€™re playing them and the structure hasnâ€™t really changed even from Claudio Ranieriâ€™s time, to be honest. Theyâ€™ve got some outstanding players and their style of play really fits their team and their club.

"Iâ€™ve got to say I think the new manager Claude Puel has introduced one or two different things Iâ€™ve seen, I think, and overall youâ€™ll see the Leicester City most people recognise from the way they played a few years ago," said Moyes.

"Because of their speed and their aggressiveness, I have to think about the opposition, particularly with where we are in the league.

"When youâ€™re at the top, you think about your own team completely, but when youâ€™re in the position weâ€™re in, we have to think about what the opposition could do to hurt us. We also have to think about what we can do to hurt the opposition so thereâ€™s a balance.

"We obviously know what Leicesterâ€™s threats are but we need to give Leicester problems as well by how we play and what we do, so itâ€™s a tight balance and we hope to be able to do both."