West Ham might have been going through an indifferent form in the league, however, they never let it affect their European performances.
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West Ham have an important Europa Conference League semi-final first leg awaiting them against AZ Alkmaar. The Premier League club have kept their domestic struggles aside to reach the last four stage of this competition. West Ham might have been going through an indifferent form in the league, however, they never let it affect their European performances. They are being considered as one of the favourites to go all the way in the competition. And the momentum is on their side following their narrow win over Manchester United at the weekend.
That win has more or less secured West Ham United’s safety in this season. David Moyes was happy with the team’s display during the win over Man United. “I don’t know if the result over Manchester United will work to our advantage. But we hope that the result will give us the confidence that we have been missing at times this season. It was a great performance and the boys played ever so well and I am hoping we can back it up again,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website.
“I think we can breathe a little bit easier because of the great result we had at the weekend. And let’s be fair, our results in Europe have been really good, so we have to try and keep that going. And if we do that then we have a great chance of reaching the final. But again, we have an opponent who we will in no way underestimate at all.”
David Moyes then spoke about the importance of reaching a final of the competition. “I think to reach any final for any team is a big thing. Everybody wants to try and reach the final and be successful and it is very difficult for any manager and any football club to be successful all the time. But we are trying. It was a great season for us last year to get to the semi-final. And we have done amazingly well to get to a semi-final and hopefully, we go one step further and make a final,” he explained.
The West Ham manager then spoke about how much he likes AZ Alkmaar’s model and how challenging it will be to play them. “I knew a lot about AZ already,” he started. “I knew about the young players and the way they are building the club and the model that they follow. They have got a lot of exciting young players and they are following the model that a lot of clubs have gone which is towards the ‘Moneyball’ side of things, signing a lot of young players, which I really like. It is a great model if it suits your club, but they have a lot of good, talented players. Their young players are doing really well, they have just won the UEFA Youth League, and are building for the future. But they also have a lot of talented players right now.”
Moyes is not ready to take Alkmaar lightly as he believes a team that is reaching the semi-final deserves respect. “I have always said I want to get to the final and that I want to take this Club to a final. But when you get to the semi-final you have got another opponent and you have to show respect and give them that respect because you have to be a good side to get to a semi-final. AZ have shown how good they are and have beaten some top sides on their journey. They had to beat Anderlecht and Lazio to get here – so, I don’t think they’re coming to us will be a big fear for them. But do I want to get to a final? 100 per cent. And I will do everything I can to get us there,” he added.
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