Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has not taken kindly to David Moyes’ comments yesterday admitting he would love to see West Ham remain in the Premier League.
Former Hammers boss Moyes was asked directly during his Tottenham vs Everton press conference whether he planned to rotate players and whether he understood the significance of the two games which will ultimately decide whether Spurs or West Ham are relegated on the final day.
Moyesie’s answer was about as clear as it gets. “I’d love to keep West Ham in the league. I really hope they stay up.
“We’re taking this game seriously.”
Music to the ears of West Ham fans, but not so well received in North London where a clearly irritated De Zerbi immediately vowed to use the comments as motivation for his own players.
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Speaking after hearing Moyes’ remarks, De Zerbi responded:
“David Moyes said he wanted to help West Ham. For us, that is a big motivation. Premier League is the best league because every game, you have to fight even if you want just one point.”
Can’t really blame him to be fair.
Managers will use absolutely anything at this stage of the season and De Zerbi clearly feels Moyes has handed him a useful dressing-room team talk before Spurs face Everton.
Did Moyes Say Too Much?
At this point though, I’m beginning to wonder whether David Moyes might have been better off quietly going about his business rather than saying the obvious part out loud.
The Scotsman was probably trying to reassure everyone that Everton would be taking the game seriously and preserve the integrity of the Premier League. Instead, he may just have added a little extra fuel to Tottenham’s fire before the biggest match of their season.
Personally, I was delighted to hear Moyes’ comments yesterday. Most West Ham fans probably were.
But with so much at stake, we’re all now in that situation where every comment, every interview and every press conference suddenly gets over-analysed as the nerves build towards Sunday afternoon.
And the equation really is brutally simple now.
Either West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur will be sitting in the Championship by the end of the day.