David Moyes dodges press conference question to send cutting message to West Ham flop

West Ham manager David Moyes has sent midfielder Alex Kral a strong message during his press conference after his side lost 1-0 to Liverpool at the weekend.

The 23-year-old arrived at Rush Green last summer having joined the east London club on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal from Spartak Moscow.

However, Kral has failed to make an impact with the Hammers, making just six appearances for the club and playing only one minute of Premier League football all season.

In the Irons’ latest clash against Liverpool, Kral was expected to make an appearance in Declan Rice’s absence, with the England international out of action due to illness. However, the Czech midfielder remained an unused substitute, sparking doubts over his West Ham future amid links with a summer move to Montpellier.

Before Rice’s absence was confirmed on Saturday, Tomas Soucek was already a doubt for the game at Anfield due to a facial wound. As a result, Moyes was asked if it presented an opportunity for Alex Kral to step into the team and prove himself.

However, the West Ham manager seemed to avoid the question, changing the subject to Mark Noble. As quoted by football.london, he responded with: “Really we could do with Mark Noble being back. He tweaked his knee in shooting practice. I’m hoping Noble could be back.”

It was only after those comments that he added: “Alex [Kral] has had one or two opportunities, not as many maybe as he would have liked, but we can only go on what we see.”

The fact that Moyes opted to play Manuel Lanzini in a deeper role, and the decision to stick with a wounded Soucek, suggests that a fully-fit Kral is a long way from getting first-team minutes at West Ham. It further implies that he is unlikely to get many