da bet esporte： David Moyes wasn’t the popular choice to succeed Slaven Bilic as West Ham United manager in November, but he has shown since that he probably was the right appointment at the right time.
da cassino online： The Irons had taken just nine points from their opening 11 Premier League matches this season and were in 17th position when Bilic was sacked following a 4-1 home defeat against Liverpool at the London Stadium, but Moyes quickly turned things around and while there have been a few downs as well as ups along the way.
The east London outfit currently lie in 12th place and are four points above the relegation zone, but following their 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Tuesday night and the closure of the January transfer window on Wednesday night, the Scot looks set to face his biggest test yet.
Things started going wrong for the Hammers during the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the London Stadium on January 20, when they were already missing Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio and Jose Fonte because of injury.
In their previous top flight match, they had beaten Huddersfield Town 4-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium with Marko Arnautovic scoring once and providing two assists, both of which were for Manuel Lanzini.
The duo were starting to strike up an effective partnership but Lanzini suffered a hamstring injury against the Cherries and had to be substituted off, while Arnautovic completed the full 90 minutes but it was revealed afterwards that he had also suffered a hamstring injury that would keep him out for around a month.
That news would have come as a huge blow to Moyes and the team, and things got even worse the following week as they put in a hugely disappointing performance in a 2-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the DW Stadium last Saturday.
While the display was pretty disastrous in terms of the result, there were further implications for West Ham as Arthur Masuaku was dismissed for spitting, and subsequently picked up a six-match ban at a crucial point of the season.
The Irons had completed the signing of Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario on loan until the end of the season before the clash against the Latics, and with the injury problems building up and with Moyes wanting to strengthen his squad anyway, more were expected to follow before the deadline on Wednesday.
The Scot was keen to bring in a new midfielder – or potentially two – this month anyway, but the serious injury suffered by Pedro Obiang at the DW Stadium – which saw him stretchered off – made it even more of a priority.
The club had been linked with moves for players like Leander Dendoncker, Ibrahim Amadou, Joe Allen, Jonjo Shelvey, Tom Cairney and James Maddison throughout the month, but they ended up with none of those individuals on deadline day.
With Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew also leaving, West Ham needed another striker too and while they didn’t get a midfielder, they did get a centre-forward in Preston North End’s Jordan Hugill – it seems unlikely that he was their first-choice option however.
Moyes won’t be happy with the club’s transfer business as a whole considering the issues they have with injuries and suspensions, and the issues certainly haven’t come at a good point in the season with crucial fixtures ahead.
With the east London outfit still only four points above the bottom three, they need to pick up positive results in the next few weeks in order to stay away from the relegation zone.
The Irons start with a trip to Brighton and Hove Albion – who are three spots and three points behind them – on Saturday, and that is followed by a home match against Watford a week later, with the Hornets dropping down the table following an impressive start to the campaign.
While the following trip to Liverpool may be viewed as something of a free hit, the following clashes against Swansea City and Burnley certainly won’t be.
Moyes is likely to be without a number of his key players for the matches against Brighton and Watford, and two bad results could send West Ham spiralling back down towards the bottom three.
This is certainly a crucial period for the Scot and his team, and he faces his first big test since he took charge of the club three months ago.