The West Ham midfielder on the Andrés Iniesta comparisons, his love for Santi Cazorla and how he buys into David Moyes’s hard-work, hard-running philosophy
David Moyes has a simple message for West Ham’s creative players: if you don’t run, you don’t play. There is no room for passengers with Moyes in charge. Substance has to accompany style and West Ham have benefited from a humble approach this season, surpassing expectations by establishing themselves as the unlikeliest of challengers for Champions League qualification.
It has been an astonishing turnaround given that they spent last year battling against relegation. Flimsy and unreliable before reuniting with Moyes in December 2019, West Ham are pushovers no more. Spirit in the camp is high and the Scot has a buy-in from his attacking players, who know that they have to put the team first. “It’s the way to understand football and most of the time understand life,” Pablo Fornals says. “If you are passionate and give 100% things can be good or bad but nobody can say you didn’t try. If I do something, I want to do my best.”
