West Ham have a bit of confidence back in Watford win says Moyes
West Ham United's Said Benrahma (centre) celebrates scoring against Watford - Credit: PA
David Moyes was delighted to end 2021 with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Watford on Tuesday.
The Hammers have struggled for form in recent weeks, and were defeated by Southampton on Boxing Day, but they responded impressively to falling behind to Emmanuel Dennis’ sweetly-struck goal early at Vicarage Road.
Tomáš Souček and Saïd Benrahma scored before the break to turn the game around, before Mark Noble and Nikola Vlašić added the second half gloss.
While Moyes felt his side could perhaps have played even better, he was happy to see signs of their confidence returning.
West Ham United's Manuel Lanzini (left) battles for the ball against Watford - Credit: PA
“I’m pleased with how we’ve bounced back,” Moyes said. “It was a good result after the disappointment against Southampton. Overall we deserved to win – we didn’t play as well as we have done at times, but we just tried to build back a little bit of confidence back.
“We were depleted, without Dec (Declan Rice), Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma, Cressy (Aaron Cresswell) and Pablo Fornals, so It was good to score four goals.
“Mark Noble had his chance with Declan Rice suspended and he played very well.
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“It’s a good thing that Mark is so experienced and he can have games which really suit him.
“The one thing is he certainly knows how to play football. Age can catch up with you in your legs at times which is a pity, but overall I think he was as good as anyone on the pitch.”
West Ham United's Ben Johnson (left) and Watford's Cucho Hernandez battle for the ball . - Credit: PA
The former Manchester United manager was also full of praise for Jarrod Bowen who notched two assists for the Hammers in the match.
“There were two assists for Jarrod Bowen and he’s been really important for us.
“Jarrod has been one of the players who has kept up a more consistent level to his performances.
“We’re trying to get the players back to that and we probably weren’t at our level today but we did a good job against a Watford side who gave Chelsea a close game here not so long ago. It’s not an easy game.”
West Ham will now travel across the capital to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on New Year’s Day (Saturday) as they look to build on their victory over Watford.
