Friday 1 September is set to be a busy day for David Moyes and West Ham United.
Not only do the manager, his staff and first-team squad have a Premier League trip to newly-promoted Luton Town on Friday evening – a first home league outing since promotion for the Hatters – but there is also the small matter of the transfer window closing at 11pm.
To add even more activity to a busy Friday, the Club will also learn their UEFA Europa League group stage opponents at lunchtime.
All in, there was plenty for Moyes to talk about with the gathered media during his pre-match press conference, with the boss sharing his delight at his team’s early-season success; form which had temporarily put the Irons top of the Premier League last weekend.
The boss was also full of praise for his Luton counterpart, Rob Edwards, and is looking forward to Friday’s trip to Kenilworth Road.
Early-season efforts
Any manager will tell you that a good start to the season is really important. We’ve had a great start to the season. We’ve had some tough games and we’ve got another tough game coming up on Friday evening. But, overall, the way the players have gone about their work, there are signs we are getting better and hopefully we can continue that.
I’m really pleased we’ve got ourselves in a strong position and we can work off that. I said before about losing Wayne Rooney at Everton that quite often the media will focus on, or talk about, that one player rather than the team. Sometimes people forget that the team is the most important thing and the team always will be.
We’re trying to get a team here that want to work hard, are committed, and is determined to be competitive. We’ve certainly seen that in the games we’ve played so far.
Deadline Day
We always needed to add some players to the squad, with the loss of Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini, and we’ve done that. We always felt some players might also need to move on for us to create spaces for people to come in. You have to get a balance. We want to try and get the right numbers in and, right now, I think we’re in good shape.
Most clubs will probably have their work done before transfer Deadline Day and that’s the way it should be. The media rely a lot on Deadline Day too, but the truth is most clubs should have their work done before it. That said, I think it’s unfair we’re playing on Deadline Day.
We’re still in the market and we will be right until the last minute, but our game being on Deadline Day makes it difficult for myself and my team to be involved in anything because we’ve got a game to prepare for.
High-flying Hatters
It’s a brilliant achievement from Luton Town to get themselves in the Premier League. They’ve done great work. To be fair too, they’ve been knocking on the door for a couple of years and I think it’s always been tough to go to a newly-promoted team for their first home game of the season.
We’re the ones that got that call, but all we can do is prepare our team as best as we can. We will make them aware of Luton’s qualities and I’m sure they’ll use the tight environment at Kenilworth Road to their advantage.
I’ve managed at Kenilworth Road over the years and everyone is well aware of the small dressing rooms, the tight tunnel and the crowd there. I actually think there are a lot of players who actually enjoy it. The fans are closer and you can see everything up close. It’s good.
Excellent Edwards
I would say that what Rob Edwards has done for Luton Town, to get them in the position they are in, is a great achievement. It’s great he has recovered from his tough spell at Watford and he’s proven any doubters wrong.
I think he’s fitted into Luton really well and he’s given those supporters Premier League football. Rob has now got a big challenge of keeping Luton in the Premier League and it won’t be easy for him, but he’s got a lot of things going to his advantage.
Excitement for Europe
I’m hoping for another good UEFA Europa League group, and good travel too! This part of the season, leading up to the Christmas period with Thursday-Sunday football, any manager will tell you it can be a challenge. We actually made it look okay in terms of the European football in recent years and hopefully we can do that again.
We want to enjoy the trips and the supporters can enjoy it as well. I’m really looking forward to it and going into it as UEFA Europa Conference League champions lets us stick our chests out a little bit going into the group stage.
