Bright sun shines on Rush Green, the West Ham United training ground, and David Moyes says, “Hey, let’s go to my office.” As we do so, he mentions a text from a friend who pointed out that Alan Irvine took the team when he had Covid-19 last year. Why the fuss? You still have three games to go, was the gist of the message.
It is in the Scottish psyche to poke fun at yourself, even in the face of achievement, and Moyes was happy that Thursday’s landmark — a 2-2 draw with Genk in the Europa League — occurred abroad, where the attention on him was a little less.
But he has to acknowledge it: Thursday, his 1,000th game as a manager, and we are here to look back on his millennium through the lenses of nine of those matches. “Aye, I am, I am,” he replies when I say that in his present role he looks like he is having as much fun as at any point in his 23-year journey as a boss. It is one which started in west Lancashire and has wound its way to east London, via Merseyside, Manchester, the Basque country and Wearside.
On his desk sits a scouting report on today’s opponents, Liverpool. It is always about the next game so, he says, let’s get this done . . .
Match No 1
Macclesfield 0 Preston 1
January 13, 1998
Auto Windscreens Shield
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“I’d been assistant to Gary Peters at Preston and took over from him but, really, nobody wanted me as manager. Fans wanted Ian Rush or Joe Royle, those were the names in the papers.
“I don’t remember an awful lot about the game [1,618 attended Moss Rose stadium on a wet Tuesday evening, Lee Cartwright scoring the only goal] but after it we didn’t win any of my first seven league games and when we finally won at Bournemouth my assistant, Steve Harrison, said on the bus home that he was leaving for Aston Villa. I still had a playing contract but played against Carlisle at home and we lost 3-0. I was that bad that I wondered, ‘Can I criticise myself in the dressing room?’ I never picked myself again.
“To young managers wondering how you get through that tough initial period I’d say that you need to get small wins. Small wins with the players and maybe the club and supporters. Those could involve changing the team, recalling people who were out of favour, changing the style, the training, the routine. Those small gains get you accepted and give people belief that you know where you’re going — and they keep you going before victories on the pitch start to come.”
Match No 235
Everton 2 Fulham 1
March 16, 2002
Premier League
After winning League One and reaching the Championship play-off final with Preston, Moyes replaced Walter Smith at Everton amid a relegation battle.
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“My first morning, I had Gazza in my office, crying his eyes out. He was due to sign for Burnley but Burnley were about to play Preston and I couldn’t let him go and face my old club. Addressing the squad for the first time was intimidating. It was quite a group: Gazza, David Ginola, Duncan Ferguson, Tommy Gravesen . . . for all the coaching courses I’d been on, I wasn’t prepared: you’re a young manager stood in front of superstars and it’s terrifying. You stick your chest out and sort of say ‘no fear’ but inside you’re crumbling.
“I kept it simple. The thing I said was: ‘I know you were all fond of Walter Smith. Walter’s a friend of mine and I’m sorry he’s lost his job. But now I’m in charge and we’ve got to get ready for the game tomorrow.’ Where I felt comfortable was on the training pitch because I knew I could deliver sessions the players would enjoy.
“That night before the game I hardly slept a wink because at Preston — where we had very few staff — I took the pre-match warm-up but I’m thinking, ‘Can a manager really do that at Everton? This is the Premier League.’ In the end I decided to get over the embarrassment, do it, and not care what anyone thought. David Unsworth scored in the first minute and Big Dunc made it 2-0 after 13 minutes, so I guess that day it worked.”
Match No 565
Chelsea 2 Everton 1
May 30, 2009
FA Cup final
“Louis Saha put us 1-0 up in the first minute but we came up short against a very good Chelsea team — sadly, because the one thing [the Everton chairman] Bill Kenwright really wanted was to win the FA Cup. There were several near misses with Everton. Another was going out to Fiorentina on penalties in the Uefa Cup round of 16, the year it was won by Zenit St Petersburg, whom we beat in the group stage.
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“Before taking the Manchester United job I had offers from clubs almost as big as United but stayed because I loved Everton and wanted to win something with that group of players, but one of the reasons I left in the end was I didn’t want to outstay my welcome. Maybe we’d hit a glass ceiling.
“[Before the 1,000th game] one of the awkward questions I got was, ‘What have you won?’ and it’s difficult to say, ‘Charity Shield, promotion,’ yet at Everton [who finished in the top seven in eight of Moyes’s 11 completed seasons] we got really close without having resources. The hunger to win is stronger than it’s ever been but as you get older you realise producing a good Premier League team and showing a level of consistency is an achievement itself. Winning a cup sometimes doesn’t keep a manager in a job.”
Match No 802
Bayern Munich 3 Man United 1
April 9, 2014
Champions League quarter-final, second leg
“When I reflect on United, it’s actually with loads of pleasure, being there and working with so many great players. People remember the ending but it wasn’t all bad. We had some great nights and played really well in the first leg against Bayern, drawing 1-1. In Munich, Patrice Evra scored a worldie to put us 1-0 up and you thought, ‘Here we go,’ but Bayern — Pep Guardiola was manager — were good. Going out was a disappointment but, looking back, the quarter-finals is the furthest United have gone in the Champions League since Sir Alex Ferguson.
“United was a club in transition, or one that was about to go into transition, and my thoughts at the time were that I didn’t want to change too much what Sir Alex had done. I thought that given the same support by the club that he enjoyed, I could be a success. United had always trusted their managers and given them time. I never doubted they’d do so with me.”
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Instead, United dismissed him after defeat away to Everton in the game that followed Munich.
“Afterwards, I reflected because it was a period where I felt for different reasons things had not worked as well. I wanted to rethink and work out what I could have done much better. How could I have got more from the players? How did I present myself?
“The takeaway? It was probably that I felt I had to be more positive. A better communicator, more approachable. I’ve always been relatively direct with people and maybe my directness had to be less.”
Match No 811
Real Sociedad 1 Barcelona 0
January 4, 2015
La Liga
“We scored in the second minute and I turned to [assistant] Billy McKinlay and said, ‘These are going to be the longest 88 minutes of my career.’ Barcelona had Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets. Luis Suárez and Pedro. And Lionel Messi and Neymar came off their bench.
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“I learnt so much from managing Real Sociedad: about Spanish culture, the style of play, Spanish players. It gave me insight into how the Spanish players you bring to England might adapt. And I loved Sociedad’s ethos, that 18 of 24 in their squad had to come from through the academy.
“The tactical plan to beat Barça? Their build-up was so good but I could see that when they build up down one side of the pitch, it’s the players on the other side who end up with the finishes. Like Pep does now. You have to stop them but not send too many players to the side where the ball is — they want to pop it round you and score from the other side.”
Match No 888
Chelsea 5 Sunderland 1
May 21, 2017
Premier League
“Relegation was hard. I felt for the supporters because Sunderland was a great club in decline. There was no momentum in the group. I found the whole season very difficult. Sunderland wanted me to stay but I resigned two days later. The only way to bounce back was to get back out and work. I did a lot for Uefa, spoke at conferences, and went on trips such as to Red Bull Salzburg to study their training. I watched a lot of Championship games because I felt if I was going to get another opportunity, I needed to know where the best [players] were.
“You fall back on the support of your family. 1,000 games — you think about it, you’re in hotels every Friday, back late on a Saturday, always away at games. I’m very lucky that my wife, Pamela, knew what I wanted to do and from the start supported me. My brother, Kenny, represents me and has been a great support and my dad’s 85 but still loves getting to the games — he was in Zagreb recently. We’re a big football family and if I wasn’t managing we’d all still be watching it and involved somewhere.
Match No 893
West Ham 1 Chelsea 0
December 9, 2017
Premier League
“At the start of my first spell at West Ham, I needed to find solutions to get some results. Those small gains can come from changing a player’s role. I moved Marko Arnautovic to striker and it was a weight off his shoulders. Stopped him having to run back.
“Marko had a really good physical capacity but didn’t show it and I said, ‘I don’t think you can do it.’ He reacted the way you want players with big mentality to react. He said, ‘I’ll show you.’ He was huge in keeping us up.”
Match No 956
West Ham 3 Leicester 2
April 11, 2021
Premier League
“Second time round at West Ham, I wanted to expand people’s horizons. We came back a different team after the Covid shutdown and finished the campaign well. At the start of last season we were at St Andrews and I addressed everyone. I said, ‘I expect us to qualify for Europe.’ We had just avoided relegation and I didn’t know if the room was going to burst out laughing.
“Beating Leicester was vital [to finishing sixth] and typical of the season because we were 3-0 up and they got it to 3-2. We had decided, as a coaching staff, we wanted to play a better style and create more opportunities and sometimes that made us vulnerable because we were trying to win games.
“Jesse Lingard scored twice and he was fantastic. The supporters loved him, and he inspired the likes of Declan Rice. He also brought a certain amount of fun with him. I think what lockdown showed us is we’re all fortunate — and I want the players to enjoy their work. But then when we work for it to be serious.”
Match No 1,000
Genk 2 West Ham 2
November 4, 2021
Europa League
“Aye, it was fitting, it was the way it’s been throughout my career. There’s been ups, downs, better bits and bits you’re disappointed with. I liked what Declan said afterwards — that it was a game which showed we still need to improve. We jumped 10 or 12 positions last year and we’re trying to jump another one or two this season.
“Playing Liverpool is a good opportunity to show our progress. Because if we’re going to talk about cups and being near the top of the league, I’ll need to find ways of becoming better and giving Liverpool a game.”
