Exclusive: West Ham's David Moyes grateful for 'good fortune' after overseeing Declan Rice, Wayne Rooney breakthroughs
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Published 29/03/2024 at 09:01 GMT
West Ham have thrived under the leadership of David Moyes in recent years, but the Scottish manager has told TNT Sports that he has "good fortune" to thank in his career too. Moyes pointed out that he was in the right place at the right time at both Everton and West Ham as Wayne Rooney and Declan Rice were breaking through, while he explained that "stability" has helped the club improve.
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David Moyes is grateful for “good fortune” in his managerial career after leading Everton and West Ham while youngsters Wayne Rooney and Declan Rice were making their breakthroughs.
Moyes became a household name in the Premier League during a successful 11-year spell in charge of Everton between 2002 and 2013.
Rooney rose to prominence under the Scot before leaving for Manchester United, where Moyes eventually reunited with him as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor during an ill-fated Old Trafford tenure.
After short-lived spells with Real Sociedad and Sunderland, Moyes found a new home at The Hammers, where emerging talent Rice helped the club win the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022-23 before joining Arsenal in a £105 million deal.
“I was very lucky, and to be a manager you do need to get some luck,” Moyes reflected in an interview with TNT Sports. “I arrived with Declan Rice just on his way up, which was a big thing for us.
“I was really fortunate to have someone like Mark Noble, who was an incredible captain and leader in the dressing room. He could handle a lot of things for me as a manager.
“Sometimes you need to be lucky. I remember when I was the Everton manager, I thought I was really lucky that I had Wayne Rooney when he was only 16 coming through.
“Sometimes managers need a bit of good fortune, you need good players to help you get results.”
Although Rice now plies his trade across London at the Emirates, West Ham have continued to compete at home and abroad in the absence of their former skipper.
Moyes’ side sit seventh in the Premier League as they push for a fourth successive season of European football.
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The Hammers reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in 2021-22, losing to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt, before their triumph in the Conference League last season ended a 58-year wait for major European silverware stretching back to the 1965 Cup Winners’ Cup.
This season, Moyes led his side to the top of their Europa League group before knocking out Freiburg in the last 16 to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final tie with Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
It has been a positive period for the London side after posting just one top-half finish in the Premier League in seven years between 2013 and 2020.
Considering what has led to the turnaround in fortunes, Moyes pointed to it being a more settled time.
“There has been more stability at West Ham Football Club generally," he said. "There’s not so much noise around West Ham as there was in years gone by.
“[There was] a lot of disruption, whether it was because we were moving from Upton Park up to the new stadium, whether it was changes in management.
“I feel there has been a lot more stability which has meant we’ve had a chance to bed it down a little bit.”
West Ham visit Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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They then face Tottenham at home and Wolves away before travelling to Germany for the first leg of their Europa League tie with Leverkusen, which will also be live on TNT Sports.
How to watch Newcastle v West Ham on TNT Sports and discovery+
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
Newcastle United v West Ham United will be live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage from 11:00 on Saturday, March 30 ahead of kick-off at 12:30.
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