David Moyes is looking forward to a return to home comforts as West Ham United prepare for Chelsea's visit to London Stadium this weekend.
The Irons will welcome the Blues to east London on Sunday in a first home match of the 2023/24 season, with both sides looking to tally a first win on the Premier League table after respective 1-1 draws last weekend.
With just two weeks to go until the 2023 summer transfer window slams shut, the gathered media for Friday's pre-match press conference questioned the West Ham manager on potential incomings and outgoings in the next 14 days.
James Ward-Prowse's move from Southampton was confirmed on Monday, following Edson Álvarez in joining the Hammers, and the boss is looking to add even more quality in the rest of the window.
Other incomings also include additions to the first-team coaching staff, with a familiar face set to join Moyes in the dugout at London Stadium on Sunday...
Constructing a competitive squad
We’re trying to have a competitive squad; a squad that can challenge for the European places in the Premier League. And, to do that, we need competition.
I don’t really talk about players at other clubs but we did make an offer for Harry Maguire, and just at the end we’ve not been able to take it any further. That’s unfortunate. We’re looking at several players at other clubs.
Tim Steidten’s work in that side of things is very important. He’s new to the Club and he’s getting to know everybody, and we’re all supporting him and hoping we can continue to add to the squad.
We haven’t made a decision on the captaincy yet. We’ll do that game by game for the moment and I think we will make a decision on that at the end of the transfer window.
The challenge of Chelsea
Chelsea have signed a lot of very talented players. Chelsea spent a lot of money last year as well, but it doesn’t always mean that spending money guarantees you success. They are entitled to work the way they do, and they have done their own thing for many, many years and have been incredibly successful.
They’ve got so many players and a lot of talent in that team. A lot of boys are new, but they are good, up and coming players, so it won’t be easy against them. They played very well against Liverpool, and it will be interesting to see what team they put out this week.
Pochettino’s Premier League return
Mauricio Pochettino has been here before and he knows the Premier League well. He’s a very experienced manager now and it is always good to come up against the top managers, and he is certainly regarded in that bracket.
We signed a lot of players last year and it doesn’t always work in your favour. It can take time for players to settle in and for people to get to know their new surroundings.
The players Chelsea have brought in will give them a better, stronger squad. But if you have too many players it can cause you different problems behind the scenes. That’s not a good situation for any manager.
Coaching Additions
I’m bringing up Mark Robson from the U21s to join me and I’ve brought in one of my scouts, Henry Newman, to join my analyst group on the daily staff as well.
That’s a couple of people there, but I may yet add to it again. I’ve brought a few more up closer to the first team.
High spirits at London Stadium
We want everybody to come in on Sunday with the same spirit and levels as we had in Prague. We want to start the season well and I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere here against Chelsea.
We want everybody behind the team, which will give us a greater chance of getting the result we want.
