“Merry Christmas”, declared David Moyes as he joined the gathered media for his pre-match press conference.
There is good reason for festive cheer around the West Ham United training ground at Rush Green. Heading into the final match of 2023, the Irons are on 30 points from 18 matches played in the Premier League this season and have the knock-out stages of the UEFA Europa League to look forward to in 2024.
All in, then, there was plenty of reason for the manager to be feeling positive as his Hammers prepared for Thursday’s trip to Arsenal over the Christmas holidays.
The experienced coach knows his opposite number well, having worked closely with Mikel Arteta during their time together at Everton, and has been highly impressed with how the Spaniard has taken to management at Arsenal.
Not that Moyes is anticipating any favours from the Gunners, as both the north London team and the east London side seek more points on their respective Premier League tallies.
The boss discussed the festive fixture schedule, the form of Lucas Paquetá and a first league outing against former Hammers captain Declan Rice in a wide-ranging press conference...
Arteta's Arsenal
I’ve been very impressed with Mikel Arteta since he first went into Arsenal. I believe he won the FA Cup and the Community Shield early on, and then obviously it went a little difficult and there was some talk, but he hasn’t half proved all the doubters wrong.
He’s done a brilliant job with Arsenal and got them incredibly competitive, and back towards the top of the Premier League and competing again.
Mikel was someone who always had another, deeper thought. He was always thinking about football and always preparing himself well. He tried to make sure he was getting the best for himself. He’s had a really good background in terms of the clubs he’s been at, and then he’s worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, who many would consider the best coach in the world.
Let’s be fair, when you become manager of Arsenal then you’re coaching a good side with good players, but you also have to be able to deal with that pressure and he’s done really well with that.
Rice reunion
We’re all pleased for Declan Rice. No one ever doubted his ability and, while we won’t be cheering him on against us on Thursday evening, we’re always looking out for him.
I said right from the start that I thought Declan Rice was a top player and I thought his value could have been greater. We got the price we wanted though, and Dec got the move he wanted, so it was a move that worked for both parties.
I think Declan would make any team more mature and improve any team in the Premier League so I think their current levels are partially to do with him right now.
From our standpoint, we had to go again and it can make you stronger and make you grow. In many ways, that’s what we’ve done. We’ve had to go out and find new players, who we thought could help us, and I think we’ve done it well.
A tough task
We can expect huge challenges on Thursday. Arsenal have always been a really hard team to beat. We had a good result against them in the Carabao Cup at London Stadium but the Premier League is a different competition and it brings out different players.
I’m sure Arsenal will get back to their full-strength team, and going to the Emirates Stadium is a never easy task either.
Reflections on 2023
We’ve been playing well and we’ve been getting good results, and now we have to try and keep that going. We’ve had one blip, but I think there were some reasons for that, and overall, we’re pleased.
We’re pleased that some of our individuals are getting a lot of recognition, but I’d rather talk about how well the team has been doing. The team performances have been really good over a long period and we’ve picked up a good amount of wins.
In truth, we’ve had a good year. We improved greatly in our league performances in the second half of last season, we went on to win a trophy and we’ve started this season very well. Long may that continue.
Teams all go through disappointments at different times but we’re really pleased with the progress we have made. We’ve had a good start to the season. We’ve got 30 points in the Premier League already, which is a good total for us at this time of year. We’re in a good position in Europe too, and we want to keep it going.
The good thing is I think we can play better and improve again. Hopefully, if we can do that, we can keep challenging the top teams.
Festive football
Playing at this time of year is the culture in this country. It’s something that we want to uphold and keep. We’re all used to playing at this time of year. I think, in truth, we probably don’t like it because we’re playing too many games, but this is what we do in this country.
You come here and we play over Christmas time and there isn’t much break. That’s part of football in the Premier League. I think, for some of the boys coming from overseas, it can be a bit of a shock. They may have come from countries that have winter breaks, but we’ve got lots of games at this time of year.
Paquetá’s performances
I think Lucas Paquetá will always play with freedom. I think good players will always find a way to show their talent. I think Lucas is still getting used to the Premier League. He’s been here for just over a year now and it probably took him about six months to settle, but I think he’s getting the real gist of it now.
He’s doing a really good job for us. He’s a really good team player and, all around, he’s got some really good qualities. Playing for West Ham, we need him to do lots of work and lots of things for the team, and he’s responding very well to that.
