David Moyes is looking forward to seeing what new signing Kalvin Phillips can offer when the midfielder steps out in Claret and Blue for the first time.
The England international has been training with West Ham United for just under a week since joining on loan from Manchester City on Friday. While Moyes is ‘not sure’ the midfielder is quite ready to make his Hammers debut when AFC Bournemouth visit London Stadium on Thursday evening, the manager believes Philips will have something to prove during his spell in east London.
The Club’s January transfer window acquisition was the subject of many questions during Thursday’s pre-match media obligations, with Moyes answering queries about Phillips' character and ability during his press conference.
The boss also reflected on his team’s last outing, at Sheffield United, and looked ahead to a tricky test against the Cherries, offering praise for the work done by counterpart Andoni Iraola on the south coast.
Welcome Kalvin!
Kalvin’s pedigree over the years has made me feel that he is a player I’d like to have at the Club. For five or six years he has been a mainstay of the England national team and I think he’s someone who is a really good player.
His move to Manchester City probably hasn’t worked as well as he would have liked. I hope we can give him an opportunity to show what he can do. This time a couple of years ago we brought in Jesse Lingard and he really helped us. I hope Kalvin can have a similar impact.
Everybody has got something to prove. I think Kalvin has as well and there’s a big international European competition coming at the end of the season that I’m sure he wants to be in good condition and form for.
We’re talking about a boy with really good character. I heard Pep Guardiola’s comments about how good of a lad he is and, while he’s only been here for a week, I would completely agree based on what I’ve seen of him. What we want to now see is his footballing ability. For us to bring in another England international to our squad, we see that as a plus.
Blades reflections
There were lots of aspects from the Sheffield United game that weren’t as good as I would have liked.
We turned the ball too often and gave the ball away far too many times. We ended up drawing a game we probably should have seen out and won.
We’re looking to keep the ball better, but there were also different circumstances in that game too. But it ended up as a not-good performance.
Impressive Iraola
Andoni Iraola has done a brilliant job at Bournemouth. He has taken a little time to settle in, which he is entitled to do, and I think he’s got them playing really well. They’ve had some great results and we’re up against a strong opposition.
It’s difficult to not say that every week about every Premier League team. There are so many strengths to Bournemouth’s team though.
A different Danny Ings
We’re desperate for Danny to become the Danny we want to see. He’s showed it before with his goals, and I’m keen for him to get goals for us. He showed it for us when he arrived and scored against Nottingham Forest.
He’s not had as many opportunities due to circumstances, like Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen playing as a centre-forward, so those things have stalled the amount of game time he has got and I’m sure the more he gets, that will make a difference.
I thought he played very well against Sheffield United. We played him in a deeper role and I think maybe that helped him a bit. I hope he’s saved up his opportunities for the weeks to come.
