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An ode to David Moyes’ Jose-esque celebration & WHU’s quiet resilience

Michael Lee •

An indelible part of the human experience are times where rationality succumbs to pure adrenaline.

Normally this would be after six pints of house lager, but occasionally life provides moments where the only sane thing to do is completely lose your shit.

David Moyes experienced one such moment at the weekend. Having overseen surprise thumpings of Wolves and Leicester from the comfort of his own sofa, the Scot would have been itching to return to the dugout. Across the internet, thousands predicted the immediate demise of West Ham’s good form upon his return.

Naturally, wags on social media rubbed their hands with glee when the Hammers conceded after 45 seconds and found themselves three down in the time it takes to cook a frozen pizza.

However, the footballing gods had something even more hilarious up their sleeves. Feeling safe enough to coronate the second coming of Gareth Bale, Spurs collapsed in time-honoured fashion to gift West Ham a draw.

The comeback was completed by an absolute shitpinger from Manuel Lanzini.

In reaction, Moyes channelled his inner Mourinho.

Jumping about with the unrestrained joy of a man who’s put his life savings on the winning horse at the Grand National, he mirrored the reaction of all Hammers fans at home who collectively lost their heads as the ball nestled into Hugo Lloris’ top corner.

With arms falling everywhere and words of delight bellowed into the north London air, the celebration contained an air of redemption for Moyes.

His spells with Manchester United and Sunderland would have sufficiently traumatised us never to enter management again, happy enough to make occasional appearances placating Roy Keane on Sky.

But Moyes is quietly making West Ham resemble something like a resilient team these days – something conspicuously lacking under previous managers who fielded teams with all the spine of a bucket of water.

By completely surrendering himself to the moment, Moyes’ celebration of Lanzini’s equaliser embodied the reaction of all West Ham fans watching at home and presented further evidence that this is turning into the most bonkers Premier League season for years.

Best of all, Moyes made his dad-like moves seem like the most natural reaction in the world.


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