Moyes issues relegation warning to sloppy West Ham team

Reuters , Monday 5 Mar 2018

David Moyes
West Ham United's Scottish manager David Moyes gestures from the touchline during the English League Cup quarter-final football match between Arsenal and West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 19, 2017. (AFP)

West Ham United boss David Moyes warned his players that "none of us will still be here" if their Premier League slide continues in the final stretch of the season.

Consecutive 4-1 defeats at Liverpool and Swansea City leaves West Ham just three points above the relegation zone with nine matches remaining.

"They have been told this was miles and miles away from where I'm going -- or they are going," Moyes told reporters.

"If they are going to play like that, then there'll be none of us here. The players need to show a wee bit, but I think they are good enough to do that.

"But they definitely all need to up their levels, because this wouldn't be good enough to win the games we've got coming up."

West Ham were blown away at Swansea on Saturday with an injury-hit defence struggling to cope with the pace and power of former West Ham striker Andre Ayew and his younger sibling Jordan.

Moyes believes their next two games, home fixtures against Burnley and Southampton, could define their season and has demanded more energy and quality from his players when they return to action at the London Stadium.

"Before, I thought a point a game could get us to 40 points, as that was the old-fashioned figure, but we're now finding we need to do more than that," he added.

"I like the message to be that we're going to be fine, but the truth is we're not fine yet. I want us to be positive and we are capable of winning games, but at the moment we have to find a way of not conceding goals."

West Ham have the joint-poorest defensive record alongside Stoke City, both having conceded 54 goals, and are 14th in the league standings having collected 30 points from 29 matches. 

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