David Moyes blames Arsenal’s Declan Rice for West Ham’s 5-0 defeat to Chelsea
David Moyes attributed West Ham’s significant away losses this season to the absence of Declan Rice.
Following his team’s 5-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday, Moyes pointed out a dismal first-half performance that allowed Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, and Noni Madueke to secure a three-goal lead by halftime.
Nicolas Jackson added two more goals after the break.
This loss at Stamford Bridge marked the sixth occasion this season that West Ham has conceded four or more goals away from home, contributing to their fifth loss in six away games across all competitions.
Moyes attributes the decline in West Ham’s defensive performance this season to the departure of Rice, who moved to Arsenal in a £105 million deal last summer.
This season, West Ham has conceded 70 goals in the Premier League, marking the highest number of goals conceded in a single campaign under Moyes’ management.
When questioned about the team’s struggles in away games, particularly after the recent 5-0 defeat at Chelsea, Moyes replied: “Declan Rice.“
“You get the best midfield player in the country, protecting, making sure the moments and times you limit maybe 50 per cent of the attacks and the moments, when you get that then it makes you a much better defensive team.
“We’ve lacked protection in front of the back four, we’ve lacked good enough defending, we’ve just not been good enough on those things in many games.
“But, you know, as I’ve said, you’ve got to be careful, you’re talking about a team sitting in a really, really strong position. We’ve had a couple of bad days away from home, we have to try and eradicate that and make it better.
“As I said, I’m trying to put a bit of mental toughness when we need it. The teams I normally prepare would normally have it. You could always lose the way you lose.
“To be fair, you have to say Chelsea are in a pretty good moment at the moment. We’ve hit the bar three times today and Emerson’s missed a sitter, so if the game had ended up 5-3 you might have said, ‘hey, West Ham had a right good go’. What was a couple of inches either side, it’s an easy thing to say, but we’ve come here with a few chances but we’ve not been able to do the basics defensively to give ourself a chance to stay in the game.
“This exact same team drew 2-2 with Liverpool last week.”
David Moyes blames Arsenal’s Declan Rice for West Ham’s 5-0 defeat to Chelsea