Moyes roars: Let’s win it!

David Moyes has insisted that West Ham have to focus on attempting to win the Europa Conference League this season, because the competition to win the FA Cup and the League Cup is simply too good.

The Hammers reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last season but have not won a trophy since 1999, when they lifted the Intertoto Cup.

The Irons were within 90 minutes of a final last season but were ultimately beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt.

And Moyes believes the Irons have to give everything they can to win the Conference League, ahead of this week’s clash with Silkeborg.

The Irons only need a point to confirm that they have won the group, although they could technically afford two defeats in their final two games if other results go their way.

Speaking ahead of the Silkeborg clash on Thursday, Moyes told the club’s official website: “I see this as an opportunity for us to go really far in another competition – we got to the [Europa League] semi-finals last year and my aim is to hopefully go further than that and do better.

“It’s easy saying that just now, because we know that there’ll be other teams coming into it later on as well.

“But to win the FA Cup or the League Cup in this country is really difficult, when you look at the quality of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal the domination those teams have had, whether it be the league or whether it be the cup competitions, I think we’ve got to do everything we can to win this competition.

“We’ve qualified at the moment [for the knockout stages], so you’d have to say ‘job done’ from when the draw came out, so now the icing on the cake would be to win the group, miss a round and go straight through to the round of 16.”

The Irons host Silkeborg tomorrow and then go to Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

 

About Dave Langton

A journalist with 10 years' experience of working on National newspapers, now chief reporter covering the club that I've loved since I was a boy. Upton Park remains the greatest football stadium ever built.