David Moyes insists Sebastien Haller can still make an impact at West Ham; striker set to get another chance against Fulham at the weekend; Michail Antonio sidelined for London derby; Hammers captain Mark Noble also out of game at London Stadium with rib injury.
Friday 6 November 2020 14:17, UK
David Moyes says record signing Sebastien Haller has a “big chance” to deliver on his reputation and prove his worth at West Ham in the absence of the injured Michail Antonio.
The striker, signed by previous manager Manuel Pellegrini, arrived at the London Stadium last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt with a big reputation which he has yet to live up to.
Since Moyes returned to the Hammers in December he has preferred Antonio in attack, but an injury to the forward gave Haller the chance to prove himself at Liverpool last week. However, the Frenchman was ineffective in the 2-1 defeat and was hauled off with 20 minutes to go.
Nevertheless, with Antonio still out Haller has another opportunity to show he can cut it in the Premier League against Fulham on Saturday evening. Hammers boss Moyes said: "It takes time to settle in the Premier League – I think quite often we expect an awful lot, and everybody wants things to happen so quickly now.
"You make a new signing, you expect him to be in the team, you expect him to make the difference right away, and you can see at certain clubs sometimes it takes a little bit of time to see how things work.
"So we have always said to Seb he will get his opportunity - it is a big chance for him to show exactly what he can do, and why West Ham value him so highly.
"He has a great reputation throughout Europe - his goals in Germany were excellent at Frankfurt, so lets hope he can bring that to West Ham."
Toiling against the champions at Anfield is one thing, but a home game against newly-promoted opposition with a leaky defence should be a tantalising prospect for a £45m forward.
But Moyes added: "I hope I don't need to categorise him that he can only play in a certain type of game. We want to try and bring in players that are always up for games against good quality opposition.
"I am sure in Germany he came up against the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, top teams in Europe.
"I don't want to put him in any kind of category - but what I do want to do is I want to see a big, whole-hearted centre-forward who we know can contribute to the team.
"We have got the makings of a good team and I want Seb to be part of that."
Hammers skipper Mark Noble will also miss out against Fulham after sustaining a rib injury in training.
