Football pundit Ian Wright has suggested that West Ham manager David Moyes should take inspiration from the film “Any Given Sunday” in order to save his club from relegation this season.
The Hammers have been playing a poor brand of football this season. They are currently languishing in 18th position on the Premier League standings after taking just nine points from their 12 games played thus far.
Moyes took charge of his first game at the helm of the club this weekend but saw his charges fall to a 2-0 defeat to Watford through goals from Will Hughes and Richarlison.
“They may be an unlikely couple, but David Moyes must channel his inner Al Pacino if he is to drag West Ham to safety,” said Wright.
“If the new Hammers boss was under any illusion about the size of his task ahead, he certainly isn’t now after kicking off with a 2-0 defeat at Watford. But there were signs of optimism at Vicarage Road on Sunday — not least three clear-cut chances which, had any of them gone in, may have seen a different result.
“That’s where that Pacino comparison comes in. He starred in a famous movie called Any Given Sunday, in which he plays a veteran coach of a struggling American football team.
“In it, he makes a really passionate speech to his players before a crunch match, with the unforgettable phrase: ‘We can climb out of hell an inch at a time . . . we fight for those inches.’ I know we’re talking Hollywood make-believe, but the principles are exactly the same.”
“It’s all about the inches. Another couple either way and he could easily have been celebrating his first game with a win. But it’s about putting in the graft as well. Then Moyes has to shore up that defence because, if they’re not scoring goals, you certainly can’t afford to be letting them in down at the other end. Moyes was desperate to get back into football and — despite the Hammers being in the bottom three — they DO have better players than he had at Sunderland.
“The one thing he did have up there was a goalscorer, in Jermain Defoe. But he’s got a couple this time, too, in Andy Carroll and Javier Hernandez. The key is keeping them fit. With that pair up top, and Manuel Lanzini just behind to mop up anything that breaks, there’s no reason why they can’t start scoring again.”
