David Moyes
West Ham fans were recorded singing anti-semitic songs at a passenger on a plane, what did you feel when you heard about that?
First and foremost I do not see our football club being like that. I think we are a diverse football club and there is no room for any discrimination anywhere in the world not just at West ham but anywhere in the world. I am really disappointed to hear about it but I am sure it is individuals and not big sections of the supporters and I am just sorry to hear about it.
West Ham have banned fans for racism in the past would you like to see similar action here?
Of course I would yeah because I don’t think there should be any racism in any part of the world and at West Ham Football Club we have to do our part to make sure that happens as well.
There are a pocket of supporters who have sung that song for a number of years what would be your message to these supporters of West Ham United?
I want this football club to be recognised for being a really good footballing team, I want it to be recognised for being a big club in London and well respected and I think to have that you have to have supporters who follow your team home and away which we have. We have incredible support at West Ham but we do not want any labels connected to us whatsoever regarding discrimination, racism none of that at all. As I said and I am repeating myself I really feel the world has moved on and we want to move on from it.
Any injury news?
At the moment we seem ok. [Andriy] Yarmolenko had a bit of an injury before we left, Nikola Vlasic as well. We’ll see how they are. It’s a quick turnaround between the games but hopefully, we’ll be ok.
The England squad was announced with no Jarrod Bowen or Aaron Cresswell, how close should they be to a call-up?
I think both are doing ever so well and no doubt Gareth [Southgate] will have looked at them and considered them because he works really hard and he has a squad of players. If Gareth thought anybody was letting him down I am sure he would be on the phone our boys have played really really well.
How do you go about trying to inflict Liverpool’s first Premier League defeat?
I think we go and believe in how we have been playing. I want to give them a much better game than we did last year. I want to show that we have moved on and we are in a better place. Liverpool will rise to the challenge whatever team is put in front of them, they have done for several years now. So we know how tough a game it will be.
What do you make of the potential appointment of Eddie Howe at Newcastle?
Eddie How is a really good manager and I am sure he will be a good fit and I am sure he is looking forward to getting back into it. He did a great job at Bournemouth over many years so I am sure given the right time and opportunity I am sure he will make Newcastle very successful. Newcastle is a great football club, really well supported so they will be hoping they can get some success.
How much have Liverpool come on since you played against them during your time on Merseyside?
I think Liverpool have always had a great side over a number of years so I was very fortunate to finish above them a couple of times. It was not a regular thing but we had just started to find a little bit of form at the end of our time at Everton. But since then Liverpool have developed again, they have spent a lot of money, they have improved many things, their stadium their team and I think they have a really good team at Liverpool. They are certainly challenging for all the big competitions which they enter and we all know recently they have been winning a lot as well.
You and Jurgen Klopp have both been nominated for manager of the month, what are your similarities?
I think Jurgen was a centre-half and I was too and I think that is it! All I do know is Jurgen is very competitive, he wants to win, puts a lot of demands on his players and for me as a manager, I want the same. Big demands and to win as well.
How much is your squad depth being tested?
We are getting tested because we are having regular games. We lost a couple of players midweek with small niggles, nothing serious and that limited us a little bit so that can easily happen. At the moment we have a strong squad and every player that comes in has done a good job and we have needed them. You can see from the amount of games we have needed them and they have done a good job and are playing well.
You have not beaten Liverpool in the Premier League for five years, what do you need to do to change that?
Liverpool played very well here at the London Stadium last year so we are going to have to do much better and I think we have stepped up a little bit again and we need to do a lot right and hope that Liverpool does not have one of their better days because they are a top side. But I do think we are slightly different as well so we will go in and try to give them a difficult day.
