West Ham United and David Moyes are likely to part company in the summer regardless of whether or not the club retains their Premier League status, 90min understands.
The Hammers are embroiled in a fiercely contested relegation battle containing nine teams, and currently sit in the drop zone after a run of just one win from their last five Premier League outings.
Moyes’ side do have at least a game on hand on every team around them, but still need to play Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool before the season concludes.
Pressure has been mounting on Moyes’ shoulders for a number of months, despite the club’s serene progress through to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League. West Ham have won all eight games they have played and are seen as one of the favourites to win the competition after recent defeats for Villarreal and Lazio.
But a failure to push on and build on the sixth and seventh-place finishes achieved during the last two Premier League seasons has caused extreme concern, particularly as West Ham invested a large amount of money on signings last summer to continue contending for European qualification.
Lucas Paqueta, Gianluca Scamacca and Nayef Aguerd were all signed in deals worth at least £30m, while further top-level experience was added in the shape of Alphonse Areola, on a permanent basis, and Emerson Palmieri – the latter of whom has won both the Champions League and Europa League.
In total, West Ham have committed close to £170m on new arrivals this season with a net spend of £150m.
West Ham’s Premier League form in 2021
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Goals
+/-
Pts
41
22
7
12
73:51
+22
73
West Ham’s Premier League form in 2022 & 2023 combined
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Goals
+/-
Pts
45
13
10
22
50:60
-10
49
Some sections of West Ham’s support have been calling for Moyes, who has another year left on his contract, to be sacked for a number of months, but the club’s majority owner David Sullivan has backed the Scot to get the club out of trouble – believing there’s no better manager equipped at dealing with the situation the club find themselves in.
However, sources have told 90min that the backing of Moyes is highly unlikely to extend beyond the end of the season, and that he’ll be replaced in the dugout regardless of whether or not the club remain a Premier League outfit.
Success in the Europa Conference League is also unlikely to have a bearing on Moyes’ future, even though it would secure a route back into the Europa League.
West Ham’s lack of progression despite their summer investment is seen as the primary problem, with some at the club feeling new ideas need to be implemented in order to get the best out of the current playing squad – many of whom have competed for or played in European competition for a number of years.
There’s also concerns over whether Moyes’ tactics and play style is limiting the ability to perform, with some of the club’s most prominent players expressing frustration to the media about how West Ham are set up.
Those dissenting voices have included captain Declan Rice, who said after the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham in February that Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen were ‘a bit isolated’ and ‘didn’t really have enough around them, enough support’ because of the decision to play five at the back and three central midfielders.
Rice is expected to leave West Ham this summer, with Arsenal and Chelsea leading the race to sign the 24-year-old.
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