West Ham first-team player demoted to U21 after Moyes decision

David Moyes has made some baffling decisions this season at West Ham that have arguably contributed to their current loss of form.

For example, after appearing to go with Jarrod Bowen as his main striker, the Scot brought back Michail Antonio into the side against Brentford and was rewarded by the 33-year-old missing an open goal which might well have taken the game away from the Bees.

It was symptomatic of Antonio’s form given that he’s not found the net since August per WhoScored.

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Keeping Mohammed Kudus on the bench up until recently was another baffling move from the Hammers manager.

Fans of the Irons would have every right to question why the club would buy a player and then not play him, and that’s something else Moyes needs to answer.

Another decision he has appeared to make was dropping first-team star, Ben Johnson, down into the U21 side for their fixture against Cheltenham Town on Tuesday, ahead of the senior side’s Europa League tie against Olympiacos.

Our U21s are back in @BSM_Trophy action tonight ??? pic.twitter.com/qAJvWKaStx

— West Ham United (@WestHam) November 7, 2023

Though Vladimir Coufal has been in decent form for the east Londoners so far this season and that’s clearly why Johnson hasn’t been able to force his way into his manager’s thoughts, the 23-year-old is surely not going to be happy about having had to drop down to play with some of the club’s upcoming youngsters.