David Moyes is looking to get one over an old friend when West Ham United face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
The West Ham United manager coached Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during their time together at Everton, with the Scotsman signing the Spaniard for the Toffees in 2005. The duo spent six years working together at Goodison Park, before Arteta moved to play for the Gunners in 2011.
There is a plenty of mutual respect between the two managers but sentiment and friendship will be put to one side on Wednesday evening, as the Irons seek to progress to the last eight of the competition at the expense of the north London side.
Victory would help the Hammers move on from a difficult week, one which saw the team lose three consecutive matches in all competitions, and the boss is confident in West Ham’s ability to bounce back in the midweek cup clash at London Stadium.
With former West Ham captain Declan Rice also making his first return to east London since joining Arsenal in the summer, there are plenty of reasons Moyes is eagerly anticipating Wednesday’s outing…
Team news
Behind the scenes, we’ve got a couple of injuries which we are having to deal with at the moment. They’re from the game at the weekend. I wouldn’t say too much at the moment. We’ve just got a couple of knocks and there’s one or two who could maybe be missing [against Arsenal] due to injury.
Lucas Paquetá and Edson Álvarez getting those yellow cards against Everton is also a factor, because now we cannot use them at the weekend against Brentford. I’m disappointed that we’re in that situation, with a couple of players booked and suspended, but that’s the way the league has gone this year with a lot of bookings.
A difficult week
We can’t deny we had a bad week. But if you look at what we did in the eight weeks prior, we can be pretty pleased with what we had done. We had some good results from some hard games, and we also made a good start in the Europa League too. Last week was a difficult one but we want to get back on track and move on from the bad results.
Cup chances
Most Premier League managers would consider the order of priority to be the Premier League, Europe and Carabao Cup. But every cup competition is an opportunity. Last year, when we won the UEFA Europa Conference League, that comes from getting through the group and then trying to win the next round, and before know it you’re through. It’s the same in this cup competition. If we can keep progressing, then we get closer to the final.
Going against the Gunners
Arsenal, over many years, have had some great teams. I’ve been fortunate – or perhaps unfortunate – to come up against them often in the Premier League and cup competitions. Arsenal have had great players over the years and it’s always been a tough task.
Last time against Arsenal, we came back from two goals down to draw with them. I know Mikel Arteta well and I want him to do well, but my job is to try to win, and get results, and we’ll try to do that again in this cup game.
Rice return
I hope Declan Rice will be back at London Stadium on Wednesday. This is the man who lifted the first European trophy in 58 years at West Ham United, so he should be welcomed back with open arms. We’re all looking forward to seeing him again.
He was a brilliant member of the team, led the team well and conducted himself impeccably as a West Ham captain. I’m really looking forward to seeing Dec. I don’t know if I really want him to play, but I really hope he’s there.
Impressive Kudus
It takes a few months to adapt to the Premier League, whether a player is doing well or doing badly, but I think Mo has settled in quite well. He’s come off the bench and helped us, and he started against Everton and done well. We see him as a big player for us.
He’s young and we’re not pushing too hard, expecting too much too soon. We want him to improve and come along at his own speed.
I think Mo could be a midfield player, or can play off the right for us, and he even played centre forward for Ajax as well. I think all those positions are really important for us because we know he can give us some variation and make it harder for other teams to figure out how we’re going to play as well.
A new way of playing
I think we’re changing in ourselves. We’re playing a more expansive and open game than we have before, which in some ways is good. We’re trying to look to open things up a bit more.
Again, though, there are some Premier League games where it will be very hard, and there will be some games where you’ll have more of the ball and can try other ways. We’re certainly trying to do that and I think we’ve shown some good signs in the first part of the season.
We’re trying to find the way of becoming a little bit more open and get some more attacks. The last couple of games, we’ve not made the chances, which is a surprise to me more than anything because that’s not been the way we’ve been working. That’s the bit we need to keep working on.
