West Ham boss David Moyes is slowly rebuilding reputation as one of the Premier League’s best managers

Ken Dyer|Ravit Anand5 January 2018

When David Moyes arrived at West Ham, he admitted he had a point to prove.

He acknowledged that his reputation, established over 11 seasons at Everton, had been significantly damaged by subsequent and less successful managerial stints, first as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Manchester United and then at the basket case that was Sunderland.

An honest and straightforward man, Moyes will concede that his rehabilitation as one of the Premier League’s best managers is some way from being complete yet, but slowly he is proving that point in East London.

Thursday's resilient 1-1 draw for West Ham at Tottenham was yet another step along the road to full managerial recovery. He knew his team could not compete with their north London rivals in terms of possession and — to be frank — talent.

There is more than one way to win a football match though — or at least not to lose one — and Moyes, deprived of any real pace in his team by a hamstring problem for his in-form striker Marko Arnautovic plus a groin injury for Michail Antonio, chose the pragmatic option instead.

It almost worked.

His team, who had beaten West Brom 2-1 just 48 hours earlier to move clear of the relegation places in the Premier League, conceded much of the Wembley pitch to Spurs on Thursday but then defended as though their lives depended on it.

Watching — and approving — from the bench, was Andy Carroll, two-goal hero against West Brom but whose injury history meant that Moyes could not risk him in back-to-back games.

The big striker, who did come on near the end, remained centre of attention though following a suggestion that Chelsea might be interested in signing him this month, a notion that bemused Moyes.

After absorbing wave after wave of Tottenham attacks, the unlikely happened when Pedro Obiang, momentarily free of defensive duties, edged forward and unleashed an unstoppable, 30-yard shot past Hugo Lloris for a stunning goal which Moyes greeted with delighted disbelief.

Stunned by the sheer ferocity of Obiang’s strike, Spurs gathered themselves for a final effort and, six minutes from time, Heung-min Son smashed home an equaliser which was only slightly less spectacular.

Moyes though, remained justly proud of his team’s defensive resilience — and singled out teenager Declan Rice for yet another composed performance on the left of a back three.

“I thought we showed fantastic resolve to keep going,” said Moyes, whose West Ham team have now beaten Chelsea and taken points off Arsenal and Spurs. “I have to praise the players. We want to play better but sometimes football is played in different ways and if it was all the same it would be boring.

“There were so many plusses for us. Declan Rice, for example, played very well at the back. It is a long journey though, to get as good as Tottenham are at the moment.

“I didn’t want to come here and get beaten four or five. Remember this was the team that beat Real Madrid 3-1 a few weeks ago so let’s put it in perspective.

“I would really like to have some of the players Tottenham have at their club — and maybe at West Ham we will have. While we don’t though, my job as a coach is to find a way of getting results for the club.”

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