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David Moyes admitted to being delighted by West Ham's start to the 2021/22 season and wins against Newcastle and Leicester, but believes this weekend's opponents - Crystal Palace - will prove an equally tough nut to crack.

Palace are yet to win under new manager Patrick Vieira having lost one and drawn one of their opening fixtures against Chelsea and Brentford respectively.

But Moyes boss knows his side are up for a difficult game against a team who have had the hex over West Ham in recent encounters at the London Olympic Stadium.




"It is a game which we treat the same as all the others," said the boss, speaking at Friday's pre-match press conference.

"Patrick Vieira was an unbelievable player and he has a really good managerial background. He's learned from different situations as part of the Man City group, went and managed in France and is now back in the Premier League.

"He is learning his trade in the Premier League as a manager, he certainly knows his way around as a footballer and knows how good teams look so we're expecting a really tough game.

"I have watched them and the first game was a really tough game against Chelsea and then they drew with Brentford who in their own right are a good team and will be a hard team to play against," he continued.

"I think Crystal Palace are finding their feet and the manager is getting to know the players they have brought in after quite a few changes which can take time to settle in. I hope it is a good time to play Crystal Palace - but you never know."

And Moyes insisted it was important his players go into the game with a similar mindset to that which helped them to wins on the opening two matches of the season - wins that've left West Ham top of the Premier League.

"I've been really pleased with the results," he concluded. "The performances have been good. We did a lot of good things in both games we have played and I thought we played well against Leicester, who are an excellent team and proved that last season.

So overall I'm really pleased - and pleased that we scored the goals. I want us to win the game so if we can do with that style, that will be great."




In addition to scoring goals - eight in the first two matches - Moyes maintained the importance of his defence keeping their concentration levels high, after they conceded three goal in those opening two games.

"We've done a lot of good things but I wasn’t happy that we have conceded two goals at Newcastle because I don't want to have to concede two goals and score four every game," he mused.

"But there are signs we are getting better defensively. I think we were a wee bit slow at the start, Angelo [Ogbonna] missed a few games with injury but is now back with us.

"I hope we can have a good defensive structure because I think to win things you have to have a strong defence. The best teams all have a good defence and we're trying to get that in place.

"The plan is to try and keep winning and keep a level of consistency. Last season we showed probably the best level of consistency we've had for a long time at the club. We became really strong just after January and February.

"We enjoyed a really consistent run which I think is shown by a league table of Premier League clubs in 2021. I think we're up there with Man City which shows you how well we have done. We have started this season well and I think the challenge is to keep that going as long as we can."

Although he will be without wing back Arthur Masuaku once again this weekend - "we are still waiting on Arthur to come back but he has a better chance after the international break," - Moyes has a healthy compliment of players to choose from yet again.




And he is happy to be playing at the London Olympic Stadium for the second time inside a week, following last weekend's demolition of Leicester City - and delighted for the fans who are once again able to watch West Ham in person, having had to endure watching Premier League football on TV for the last year-and-a-half due to the pandemic.

"The support was magnificent [against Leicester]," he asserted. "I thought we gave them something to shout about. It was a terrific team performance which helped as well. But the crowd didn’t half get behind us, the way the goals were celebrated.

"There have been a couple of changes at the stadium, they brought the ends in behind the goals as well which I think helped with the immediate supporters closer to the pitch in some areas and I think that made a big difference as well.

"I hope that the way that team is playing is giving the supporters something to enjoy, to look forward to coming to the stadium and hope we can keep it up."

Something else to look forward following last season's excellent performance in the Premier League is a European campaign this season, with the Hammers being drawn in Group H of the Europa League along with Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Rapid Vienna.

And Moyes admitted to being as delighted as the club's fanbase at being involved in the competition. "We are really excited," he said. "We watched the draw this morning and watched the pots coming out. The biggest thrill was to see West Ham in one of the pots back in Europe.

"We'll get the supporters back in for the games hopefully as well. Hopefully, we can get them into the [away] games but we can at least get them back to London Stadium for the home games.

"For us this is a great opportunity, but I have to say the players earned it with their performances last year. They played so well in some of the games and some of the performances last season rightly merited a place in European competition."

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