Playing
David Moyes has claimed he may well go ahead and play Patrice Evra when West Ham United take on Watford this weekend in the Premier League.
The Hammers boss has noted in his column for the Standard Sport that Evra may have been out of the game for some time, but that he’s ready to go – and very fit, having been with his fitness coach in Dubai for the last month and working hard alone in the gym before that.
With both sides in the relegation battle, it’s vital the Hammers get all three points, and both clubs know that a string of wins can lift you up the table, with Watford now being as close to the drop as they are to the seventh placed side in the table.
Moyes lavished praise on Evra, and wrote: “He has trained with the first team for the past couple of days and done well but there’s a big difference between training and playing a match and, to be fair, the training we do at this time of the year isn’t at a massive level of intensity because we’re trying to save the players’ energy for the games.
From what I’ve seen over the past day or two, I would have to say he’s not far away from playing. I’m not sure whether I would throw him in straight away but it’s something I am considering.
The big thing for me is that he is someone who so many players have — and will — look up to because of what he has achieved. He’s a good talker, he’s played for some of the best clubs in the world and with some of the best players.”
Professionalism
One of the qualities which Moyes saw in Evra during their short time at Manchester United together – and one which he wanted to make sure was brought into West Ham was the level of professionalism shown by the left back.
Moyes claimed that’s something Evra can get to rub off on other players, and it will certainly benefit the side to have him around them – even just in training.
“Pat’s level of professionalism is very high and I want that to rub off on some of our other players. I want them to see what they have to do to get to the very top.
He and Pablo Zabaleta are two great examples of players who have played at the top end of this sport and have won things throughout their careers.”