One of Manchester United's worst performances this season came against West Ham in September. United lost 2-0, slid to 10th and seemed to have learned nothing from the previous season when they were equally dreadful at West Ham. Or even the season before that.
It is a quirk of the fixtures that three of the last four meetings between the two teams have been in London. But, thankfully for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is desperate to reach the Champions League with a top-four finish, his club have a better home record.
The Hammers have not won at Old Trafford since 2007, when the title was already confirmed for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. That surprise and controversial result meant Sheffield United were relegated rather than the East Londoners.
West Ham are safe this season partly because David Moyes, for the second time in three seasons, has come in when they have been in a perilous position and pulled them towards survival. In 2018, West Ham rewarded Moyes by not offering him a new contract. He was not exciting enough for them or their fans and they went for Manuel Pellegrini instead.
West Ham came back to Moyes in December 2019 with the team 17th and having dismissed Pellegrini. The Hammers slipped into a relegation spot but Moyes has again led them out of it.
“David is doing a fantastic job, he’s improved the team since the lockdown,” said Solskjaer ahead of their clash on Wednesday. “They’ve had some fantastic wins against Norwich, Watford and Chelsea to secure their place. We know their threats and how well they play.”
Moyes’ family home is still close to Manchester and he spent lockdown driving a van around delivering food to elderly neighbours. But his time at United did not go to plan. Charged with taking over from Ferguson, he was given a six-year contract.
Right from the start, he felt that there was much work to do but that he would get time to do it. He got nine months and was dismissed following consecutive 0-3 home defeats to rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.
Those results were not close enough to being good enough for the reigning champions. The axe fell after a defeat at his former club Everton meant United would not be playing Champions League football for the first time since 1995. Players arguably let Moyes down, but he did not always help himself and looked uneasy in front of the media as the pressure built.
Moyes feels that if he would have known he would get only nine months then, he would have done things differently. Ahead of his latest visit to Old Trafford, he said of his opposite number: “Ole had a difficult start but the difference between Ole and me is that he’s being given time.”
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Manchester United v Chelsea ratings
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David De Gea. 3. Howler of an error for Mount’s goal. Good save from Giroud – after conceding a sloppy one from Frenchman. PA -
Aaron Wan Bissaka 5. One of many who struggled in United’s changed system. Taken off. Reuters -
Brandon Williams 4. Sloppy. Howler for Mount’s goal. Supposed to support attacks. Didn't. PA -
Harry Maguire 4. Puts his head where it hurts and had the bandage to show for it. Did that unbalance him? Scored an own goal. Reuters -
Victor Lindelof 5. Poor for Giroud’s opener. Needs to do more to convince that he’s going to be a long term centre half. EPA -
Eric Bailly 5. A sad sight watching him stretchered away after a passive first half from United. Unlucky. AP Photo -
Fred. 4. As ineffective as the whole team. Won’t be happy with that. Like every fan then. EPA -
Nemanja Matic 5. Found it difficult in changed system to match Chelsea up. More success for Chelsea in the FA Cup than he’d had with United. Reuters -
Daniel James 4. If you get a chance you have to take it. Didn’t. Has to prove he’s good enough to play for Manchester United. Reuters -
Bruno Fernandes 6. Best of a bad bunch. Always wants the ball. Cool on the penalty. AFP -
Marcus Rashford 5. Poorest game since resumption of football. Limited service to him, but he offered limited movement too. EPA -
SUBS: Anthony Martial (45+2') 5. One week a 10/10, the next anything but. Failed to affect game. AFP -
Paul Pogba (55') 5. Chasing a game, chasing shadows. AP Photo -
Mason Greenwood (56'). Top young player. But not today. EPA -
Timothy Fosu Mensah (79'). Second appearance in three days after three year absence. Reuters -
Odion Ighalo 6 (79'). Worked hard. Offered something different in limited time. Getty Images -
CHELSEA: Willy Caballero – 7. Few saves to make but was alert to any dangers and quick to come off his line to clear up balls over the top. Had the occasional flap at crosses and couldn’t do anything about the penalty. Getty Images -
Cesar Azpilicueta – 8. Lovely low cross to set up Giroud’s opening goal and was untroubled on the right side of the three-man defence. Getty Images -
Kurt Zouma – 8. The Frenchman can blow hot and cold but at Wembley he was certainly on his game. Reuters -
Antonio Rudiger – 8. A reminder of how good he can be. Solid as a rock at the back (save for one clumsy challenge on the edge of the area). Forced Maguire’s own goal for Chelsea’s third. AFP -
Reece James – 7. Handled his defensive duties well and ran the right channel all game. EPA -
Marcos Alonso – 8. How can one player be so ordinary at full-back and absolutely superb at wing-back? Introducing Marcos Alonso. AFP -
Jorginho – 6. Plenty of typically nice, short passes and touches but didn’t impose himself fully on the game. The Italian didn’t need to playing alongside Kovacic. Reuters -
Mateo Kovacic – 8. Bossed the midfield. Drove his team up the pitch, always in space for a pass, and ran all day to provide a presence in defence and attack. Getty Images -
Mason Mount – 7. Doubled Chelsea’s lead right after the break, although the goal owed just as much to a De Gea blunder. Full of high pressing. EPA -
Willian – 6. Quiet game from the Brazilian on the attacking front but always offered an outlet and tracked back fulfill his defensive duties. PA -
Olivier Giroud – 8. Neat finish to score the opener to continue his fine form since the restart. EPA -
SUBS: Tammy Abraham (80’) – 5. Had little time or opportunity to impact the match as Chelsea looked to close out the victory. Getty Images -
Callum Hudson-Odoi (80’) – 5. Produced a nice, jinxing run in injury time, but also conceded the penalty that gave United their consolation goal. Getty Images -
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (86’) – N/A. Reuters -
Pedro (90+1’) – N/A. EPA
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Statistically, Solskjaer needs two points from the last two games to match the 64 achieved in what is known as "the Moyes season" – that remains United’s worst Premier League total as the team finished seventh and failed to qualify not only for the Champions League, but any European football for the first time since English clubs were allowed back into European competitions in 1990.
Solskjaer's team started this season terribly but have improved in 2020 and are the only team unbeaten in the league since the restart – though Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea was a blow to his chance of a first trophy,
“When you lose a game you are hurt and disappointed but a defeat isn’t the end of the world,” Solskjaer said. “It was the end of the FA Cup dream and the final but we’ve had so many set backs as a club.”
David de Gea was widely criticised for another glaring error. Solskjaer maintains that the Spaniard is mentally strong enough but did not want to be drawn more on De Gea in a pre-match press conference.
He prefers to defend his players publicly and deal with them in private but while he continues to back the world’s best-paid goalkeeper, Solskjaer knows de Gea is now costing him football matches.
Further mistakes could be extremely costly given Champions League qualification is vital for United and, when asked by The National, the Norwegian said: "Everyone can see we're on a journey towards something better. It's in our own hands. I don't want to talk about how much it'll mean financially or to attract people. We have to focus on these next two games and make sure we're there."
United have done well to be strongly fancied to be in the top four, somewhere they have not been since September. There is still a chance of cup success with the Europa League, too, but United really need to avenge that defeat against West Ham at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
